The Inter-House Challenge (A Scorose Fanfic)
by NunaShipper394
Summary: Rose's 4th year takes an unexpected twist when a competition, which will force her to work with students from other houses, takes place. The year sees Rose grow closer to a certain someone, but will their family history stop them admitting their true feelings for each other? Follows Rose's life through the exciting, yet dangerous Inter-House Challenge. Feedback much appreciated! x
1. Chapter 1

The view of the countryside was beautiful, but it whizzed past James, as he was paying no attention to it. Instead he was glancing round at his siblings and cousins who were sat with him on the Hogwarts Express. The others were all involved in an excited discussion about what Aunt Hermione had planned for this year, (as she'd been dropping hints all summer that there'd be something going on at Hogwarts when they returned,) but even Rose and Hugo had failed at discovering the truth. Their cousins had been disappointed, to say the least, that the son and daughter of Hogwart's headmistress had failed to get them any inside knowledge. This left a lot of room for debate about what the mystery event could be.  
"I reckon that she'll be re-instating the Triwizard Tournament!" declared Albus, his green eyes shining in excitement. James and Al were often told how similar they looked: they had the same dark hair and confident posture, although James was a head taller than his brother and didn't have Al's vivid green eyes, but the elder brother often wished that he did. "After all, Uncle Ron said that Grandma knew about the last one, but wouldn't tell him, or anyone else!"  
"But, Dad nearly died in that!" exclaimed Lily, with obvious worry. She was the youngest of the group, just starting her 2nd year, and was almost as excited as she had been the September before, but only half as nervous. Her ginger hair was neck length, too short to tie up in a bobble, but she hated it getting in her way, so she often pinned her fringe to the side with a hair grip. She wore a cheeky grin, which, combined with her smattering of freckles, gave her a very mischievous look, despite being the sweetest of the 5.  
"And that Diggory boy_ did _die!" pointed out Rose, shaking her head in disgust. "They wouldn't bring back a Tournament that killed someone only a couple of decades ago, especially when Mum kind of knew him."  
"Yeah, that'd be stupid." agreed Hugo, shaking his mane of hair out of his face. Hugo Weasley was a thin and lanky 13 year old, with more than a smattering of freckles gathered across his face. His hair was his mother's shade of dark brown, but was the same style that Ron had worn it at Hugo's age: down to his chin and falling in his face, which had annoyed his mother all summer long.

"Alright, so if it's not the Triwizard Tournament, what is it then?" snapped Albus.  
"Now, now, kids, calm down," began James. He was only a year older than Albus and Rose, who were just starting their 4th year, but he never tired of acting superior to his younger cousins.  
"Oi, don't talk down to us!" laughed Albus, punching his brothers arm playfully. That was one of the lovable things about Al, when he was angry it rarely lasted longer than a minute.  
"So what do you think my mother's arranging, then, Mr Potter, if you're so smart?" Rose inquired, grinning at him. She and James got along really well, as they were both outgoing, confident and talented. However, whilst James' area of expertise was playing Chaser on the Quidditch pitch, Rose's was in the classroom. Both took after their mothers in that sense.  
"I dunno... Maybe it's a HUGE Quidditch competition, with loads of obstacles in the sky, that you have to avoid, or collect or whatever, and then you have to save a damsel in distress, and carry her to safety, before-" Hugo cut him off.  
"You can't fit two people on your broomstick, James. _And_ you'd have to get a girl to volunteer to be rescued by _you_, so, good luck with that one." He high-fived Albus, leaving James looking mortally offended.  
"I'll have you know that plenty of girls would _love_ me to carry them off on my broomstick- no pun intended" He added, as the others started to laugh at him.  
"Just give up, Jimmy, you've lost this argument." laughed Hugo.  
"_Jimmy?_"  
"Yeah, it suits you, I reckon"  
"Well, I don't!" exclaimed James. He knew who he was named after, and was very proud of it, so he hated his name to be abbreviated.  
"Is there a problem here?" asked a voice from the door. The 5 cousins all turned to see who was speaking, to discover no other than Scorpius Malfoy stood there. He was leaning against the door frame, his thick blonde hair pushed out of his face in a sort of quiff, which drew attention to his angular bone structure and stunning grey eyes. Scorpius _was_ good-looking, there no doubt about that, but the 5 preferred not to admit it.  
"What do you want, _Malfoy_?" snapped Rose.  
Scorpius' attention was involuntarily drawn to Rose, who was sat by the door. His first thought was that summer had been kind to her. She'd certainly grown in height, and her figure was a lot more clearly defined. Last time he'd seen Weasley, her hair had been thin and straggly, and she'd been quite plump, but the puppy fat had since gone, and her hair was thicker, the red curls were elegant and graceful. '_Wow._' he thought.  
"Malfoy!"James' voice brought him back to earth. "I'm going to overlook the fact that you're ogling at my cousin, which is more than I should, if you leave. Now."  
But it wasn't in Scorpius' nature to be bossed around. "Oh, don't mind me." He began sarcastically "I was just walking down the train when I heard all the shouting in here, and thought I'd better intervene. Although, fighting is natural among the decedents of Mudbloods and blood traitors, so I hear." Faster than lightning, Albus had his wand at Scorpius' throat.  
"Say that again, _pureblood." _growled Albus, making a dent in Scorpius' neck.  
"You, and your little friends, are _all_ the descents of M-" Scorpius began, but was thrown backwards by being hit with several curses at once. The five in the compartment had all attacked Scorpius at once, not to mention an extra couple of jinxes from someone in the corridor. Rose and Lily, who were closest to the door, ran over to assess the damage.  
Scorpius had hit the wall of the train, and was now slumped on the floor of the corridor, unconscious, with boils sprouting all over his skin, and his hair matching his green robes.  
"Nasty," came another voice as Fred and Roxanne entered the compartment, their eyes glowing in amusement. "Great way to start the year, kids." Roxanne laughed as Lily hugged her.  
"Roxy!" she exclaimed "I've missed you! And Fred, too, obviously," she added hastily.  
Fred didn't seem offended by being brushed aside by his youngest cousin, he merely laughed and took a seat amongst the others.  
"Good to see you all," he smiled, adjusting his robes "How was your summer?" Immediately a babble of noise broke out in the compartment from James, Al, Hugo and Lily, whilst Fred and Roxanne attempted to listen to the 4 at once. Rose, however, was distracted by Scorpius. He was in her line of sight, and not looking great. '_But, it's not as if I can help him!'_ She told herself '_I mean, we've been sworn enemies all our lives!' _ her Dad had even warned her not to trust Malfoy when she first started Hogwarts, and she wasn't about to break her word, especially not after he'd insulted her family like that...  
She shook the thought from her mind and joined in the conversation, which was now about Fred and Roxanne's latest plan to sneak Weasley's Wizard Wheezes goods into Hogwarts.  
"We've got them wrapped in a cheap Invisibility Cloak in our cases; the spell will last a few weeks, which should be long enough for us to flog them." Fred told them.  
"Mum found out, and you could tell she wanted to go mental, but didn't. Roxanne said "She told us that we reminded her of Dad and Uncle Fred when they were at school, and just not to let the professors find out."  
"Auntie Angelina's awesome!" exclaimed Hugo wistfully "I wish Mum let us do stuff like that..."  
"But if she did, she wouldn't be Mum." pointed out Rose. "Dad says she's been like that since they were 11, and I can't imagine her letting us even _buy_ WWW products, let alone sell them!"  
"I suppose..." said Hugo, but still looking jealous.

The train pulled to a stop in Hogsmeade at long last. Sighing and stretching, the students stood up, pulling their trunks down from the luggage racks. Fred and Roxanne had since left the compartment to say hello to some of their other friends, shutting the door behind them, and therefore blocking Scorpius from view. However, he was still lying on the floor (although the green from his hair had faded, and the boils has disappeared) when James yanked the door open to leave the train.  
"Hey, maybe we'll have a year without Malfoy if he doesn't wake up before the train leaves!" exclaimed Albus excitedly, whilst the others laughed in approval.  
Rose, however, had a niggling feeling of guilt inside her. She was probably the most moral of the 5, and even though Scorpius had insulted her family, she couldn't just send him back to London. Accidentally-on-purpose, Rose's trunk came open as she pulled it off the luggage rack, throwing her stuff everywhere.  
"Awww, damn!" she exclaimed "I'll catch you lot up in a minute when I've sorted this out." The others nodded, and went on without her, after she'd rejected their offers of help. As soon as they were gone, she threw everything back into her trunk higgledy-piggledy, fastened the clasp, and ran to Scorpius in the corridor.  
The first thing she did was remove his wand from his pocket, before kicking him in the leg- hard. Her sympathy didn't extend as far as politeness.  
"Wake up, you arrogant swine! Wake up!" He didn't move "_Rennervate!_" he stirred, at last, and began to sit up. Seeing Rose looking at him, he automatically reached for his wand. Discovering that it wasn't there, a look of panic flashed across his face,  
"Well, that's low." He began, sneering "Stealing my only method of defence, whilst I'm unconscious on the floor, _after_ you and your cousins ganged up on me."  
"Don't talk to me about ganging up on people." Rose laughed sourly "Just be glad that I woke you up at all, Malfoy. Now, get up and let's go."  
Scorpius scrambled to his feet and realised he didn't have his trunk with him. "I'm going to get my trunk, and, assuming you won't wait for me, I'll need my wand back, Weasley."  
"Don't you _dare_ jinx me as soon as I turn away," Rose warned him, presenting Scorpius with his wand "because if you do, you'll wish I left you unconscious." Rose's tone of voice told the Slytherin that she wasn't joking.  
"Don't worry, Weasley, I'm not _that_ cruel," he smirked.  
"_You_ are a Malfoy. I wouldn't put anything past you." And with that comment, Rose turned, grabbed her trunk, and swept out of the compartment in a wave of red curls and rose perfume.  
'_Wow,'_ Scorpius thought, in awe, for the second time that day, then caught himself: _'She's a_ Weasley_! That combination of curses must have had some bizarre side effects..._' he told himself, as he ran back to his compartment and grabbed his trunk, before stepping off the train, into the cool evening air. 


	2. Chapter 2

Rose stepped off the train and headed to the nearest carriage, but was disappointed to find it was full of 2nd years. Sighing, she climbed in to discover that one girl, who was tall and well built for a 12 year old, and wearing Slytherin robes, was taunting a smaller and skinnier boy.  
"Your Mum's a nutcase!" The Slytherin shrieked in laughter, "And if you can't admit that, then you must be as crazy as she is!" Rose noticed that the girl had two wands in her hand, not just her own. She must have stolen the boy's whilst she taunted him, so he couldn't defend himself. How cruel. Before Rose could intervene, another girl from the corner stood up. She had light brown hair, which reached her waist in thin strands, and hazel eyes. She was short and skinny, just like the boy. In fact, they had the same shade of hair and same coloured eyes, and it dawned on Rose that they were brother and sister.  
"Don't you _dare_ talk about our mother like that," The girl's voice was calm and steady, but full of danger and hatred. Despite her delicate appearance, she was clearly not one to be messed with.  
"Oh, I forgot about you, Alice!" laughed the stockier girl cruelly, "And I forgot how loyal you are to your dearest brother. That's a stupid Gryffindor quality. But, if I were you, I'd sit down and shut up, unless you want darling Frank here to have an _extremely_ bad start to the year..." her voice had become dangerously quiet.  
The skinnier girl – Alice – raised her wand, but before she could hex the Slytherin, the latter sent a curse across the carriage with one wand, keeping the other trained on Frank. But Alice was quicker. She cast a Shield Charm with one swift arm movement, no words involved, so the jinx returned towards the Slytherin, and would've hit her, had she not ducked and let the Ravenclaw boy behind her take the blow. He suddenly sprouted antennae, and, cursing under his breath, tried to aim a Jelly-Legs Jinx at the Slytherin girl, but she avoided it again, and the curse hit a cage with an owl in, causing the bird to break free and fly around the carriage in excitement.  
"_Tarantellegra!"_ exclaimed the Ravenclaw, and this time the curse hit his target. The Slytherin started dancing uncontrollably, dropping the two wands as she did so. Frank picked up both, and attempted to Stun the stocky girl. However, he clearly wasn't the best trained with a wand, so all it did was trip her up, whilst she continued to 'dance' on the floor of the carriage. A fellow Slytherin boy from the corner threw a jinx at Frank for attempting to hex his house-mate, but Alice intercepted the curse with a cry of "_Protego!_" and the Slytherin boy became a toad.  
The others in the carriage all looked scared stiff as Alice glanced round, as if to check for anyone else who wanted to jinx her or her brother. The Ravenclaw's eyes met hers, and he gestured to the antennae.  
"Sorry about that." She said, and performed the counter-curse, before picking Frank up off the floor, and Stunning the Slytherin girl. The students noticed Rose for the first time, and looked terrified at the prospect of a 4th year sat with them. Or they were scared stiff that Rose'd get them all into trouble for what she'd just witnessed. Rose neither smiled, nor told them off. Instead she just pointed her wand at the owl, which was still flying above their heads in circles, and, with a squawk, it zoomed back into its cage and the door clicked shut. She then took a seat.  
"Who's that girl?" she asked, pointing to the unconscious Slytherin in the floor. The 2nd years exchanged nervous glances, as if reluctant to grass. "I'm not going to tell anyone," she reassured them, "I just want to know if she has any particular reason to hate you two." The Ravenclaw boy opened his mouth to answer, as the carriage began to move, when a shout from outside was heard:  
"WAIT!" The carriage stopped. Rose opened the door to see Scorpius running to reach them, dragging his trunk behind him. He climbed inside, panting for his breath, but Rose didn't bother to ask for an explanation to why he took so long. Instead she contented herself with rolling her eyes, and turned back to the Ravenclaw.  
"You were saying?" she asked him.  
"Oh, yeah. Her name's Penelope Creston and she only gets along with other Slytherin's, like him." He gestured to the toad, who croaked in agreement.  
"And you are?" Rose asked the Ravenclaw.  
"Matthew," He said, extending his hand "Matthew Douglas." Rose shook his hand briefly, before turning to Alice, who had her arm around Frank's shoulders protectively.  
"So, you're Alice, I take it?" Rose confirmed, and Alice nodded. "And Frank's your brother?" Another nod. All Alice's former confidence seemed to have vanished with the end of the fight, as if her loyalty to her family was the entire reason she behaved the way she did._ 'Maybe it is,' _Rose thought, '_who says that _all_ Gryffindors have to be outgoing _all_ the time?' _Frank and Alice reminded her of someone, but she couldn't place who... Then it clicked.  
"You're Nev- I mean- Professor Longbottom's kids!" Rose exclaimed "He has me for Herbology, and he's really good!" She wasn't just saying that to be polite; Frank and Alice's Dad was one of Rose's favourite teachers.  
Frank sat up, not looking scared for the first time, but proud "Yeah, he's our Dad!"  
There was a noise from the corner. Scorpius.  
"What is it, Malfoy?" Rose asked impatiently.  
"Oh, nothing much, but is your mother that crazy 'Luna' woman, by any chance?"  
Frank, Alice and Rose all tightened their grips on their wands "Yes." replied Alice, "Except she's not crazy. In fact, she's just as sane as I am." Frank and Alice exchanged a knowing smile.  
"Well that doesn't-" Scorpius began, but Rose stopped him.  
"Careful, Malfoy. You've already had your fair share of jinxes today, and you haven't seen what these two are capable of."  
"If you think that I'm going to be scared of a couple of 2nd years, Weasley, you've got another think coming." But Scorpius shut up anyway, as the others lowered their wands.

As the carriage creaked to a halt, Rose thought better of leaving the two 2nd year Slytherins in their current state, and Rennervated Penelope, whilst Scorpius returned the boy back to his human form. Rose stood to the side, and let the 2nd years get off first, but then she saw her friends and cousins heading towards the school, who seemed to be having a worried discussion. Rose realised that she'd said she'd get their carriage, but had forgotten, and had instead climbed in the nearest one. They hadn't seen her since they'd left her on the train with Malfoy.  
Rushing down the stairs to catch them up, she tripped and fell out of the carriage and onto the ground. A few people turned and looked worriedly, as if debating whether to come over or not, but most were intent on getting inside out of the cold. Scorpius, however turned around, and offered her his hand.  
Rose looked at it carefully. This was _Scorpius Malfoy_ offering to help her. They hated each other! Surely there would be a catch? But, despite her better judgement, she took his hand, and allowed him to pull her to her feet.  
"Thanks." She muttered.  
"Truce?" He asked.  
Rose looked him up and down. He was _serious_. He thought that helping her up _once,_ could make up for all the names he'd called her and her family, all the times they'd fought, all the hatred between the Weasley's and the Malfoy's that went back generations.  
"No chance." She told him and rushed off into the darkness, leaving Scorpius standing alone.


	3. Chapter 3

Please note that from here on in I've kept certain teachers from Harry's time at Hogwarts, because they're just too awesome to get rid of. Namely: Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, and a few others. Please feel free to review; I always appreciate feedback of any sort. And thank you to everyone who's favourite/followed this story, it really means a lot! Enjoy! (I hope) x

As everyone milled around in the Great Hall, finding their friends, Rose finally caught up with her cousins at the Gryffindor table. She waved at James, Hugo and Lily, who were all sat with their respective year groups, and joined Al, who was sat with a handful of their fellow Gryffindor 4th years.  
"Sorry I didn't get your carriage," she apologised, swinging her legs under the bench. "I know it's bad of me, but I just took the nearest one."  
"Don't worry about it, Rosie, it's not as if we missed you," Albus sniggered from across the table.  
"Oh, ha ha." was the only reply Rose could think of.

Someone sat down next to Rose on the bench, and threw their arms around her neck:  
"Rose!" squealed Molly Saunders, the girl who had been Rose's best friend since first year, in which she'd jumped to Rose's defence in a argument between her and Scorpius Malfoy. At first Rose had been annoyed that Molly thought she'd needed protecting, but over time they'd bonded, despite being polar opposites. Molly was a giggly, girly-girl, who loved clothes, make-up and boys, and paid practically no attention in class. She fitted into the branch of Gryffindor's who lived life on the edge, played crazy dares with each other, and took ridiculous risks. She was one of those girls who seemed incapable of looking a mess; Rose knew that it was down to make up and years of practise at making herself look great, but she couldn't help but be jealous of Molly's jet black locks that fell in one straight sheet down her back, which made her bright blue eyes stand out, and defined her cheekbones.  
"Molly!" laughed Rose, returning the hug. "It's great to see you!"  
"And vice-versa, etcetera, etcetera, but, on a more important note; did James say anything over the summer?" Molly had a huge crush on Rose's cousin, James, which she insisted had nothing to do with the fact that he was the son of The Boy Who Lived. Rose sighed as she looked at Molly's expression, her bright blue eyes shining with hope.  
"He asked if you'd be trying out for Quidditch this year," Rose told her truthfully.  
James had been made captain of the Gryffindor team over the summer, and Molly was his best Chaser.  
Molly let out a noise of excitement that was a cross between a dolphin and a pterodactyl.  
"But he must have already known that I'd want to try out, I mean, everyone on last year's team knew that I loved Quidditch, including James, so it's almost as if he _wanted_ to talk about me..."  
Rose allowed her friend to go off into a daydream. She really hoped that Molly and James would get together this year, because it might shut her up about James.

"Ok everyone, sit down!" called a voice from the Professors table, and immediately there was silence. It was Hermione, or Professor Weasley, as she was known by the students, _if_ they were being polite. If they weren't, she was 'Granger', as everyone knew Hermione as the witch from the Chocolate Frog cards:

'Hermione Jean Granger.  
Hermione Granger was notable for her role alongside Harry Potter in the downfall of Lord Voldemort.  
She was widely considered the brightest witch of her year at Hogwarts.  
Hermione also formed the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (S.P.E.W.).  
She also contributed to the demise of pro-pureblood laws through her work in the Dept. of Magical Law Enforcement.  
She is married to Ron Weasley, and has two children; Hugo and Rose.'

So Rose didn't feel any pressure at all to live up to her mother...

Hermione turned to address the school.  
"Welcome back, everyone! It's fantastic to see you all sat here before me, ready to learn at the start of a new year!" A few people rolled their eyes at the 'ready to learn part'. "I could make a speech, but now is not the time, for we have a more pressing matter on our hands: The Sorting!" There was a smattering of applause. "Professor McGonagall, over to you!" Hermione sat down as a line of terrified looking first years entered the hall, lead by the Transfiguration Professor.

The Sorting Hat sang its song, this time about how Hogwarts will always be 'Stronger united, weaker divided' and the importance of 'Inter-House ties'. Rose was getting a niggling feeling that she had some idea of what her Mum had planned.

"Abercrombie, Stewart!" called McGonagall.  
A skinny boy with large ears sat on the chair, crossing and uncrossing his legs nervously, and had the Sorting Hat placed upon his head.  
"HUFFLEPUFF!" It shrieked, as a cheer rose from the Hufflepuff table, and Stewart joined the badgers.  
Rose allowed herself to slip into a daydream, only coming out of her reverie to cheer every time a first year became a Gryffindor, or when her stomach rumbled.  
Finally, Professor McGonagall called: "Zoster, Emily!" forward and she became a Ravenclaw.

It wasn't in Hermione's nature to make a long speech before eating, as being married to Ron had taught her that if you don't eat quickly, then you don't eat. So Hermione just said:  
"Welcome, first years! I hope you enjoy your time at Hogwarts, for it is an experience that lasts a lifetime. I could say more; about the history of the school, and what the lessons will include, but you will learn all that soon enough. So for now, let's eat!" She nodded, and the tables filled with all the food you could possibly imagine, until they were creaking under the weight.

Rose and Molly forgot about everything other than their food, and began to eat. Rose helped herself to a large portion of chicken and gravy, with peas and potatoes, trying her best not to look greedy, but, as she did every year, gave up when pudding arrived. Both girls looked at each other, before simultaneously diving for the chocolate cake. However, neither reached it, as Al had decided that he deserved a large slice first.  
"Al!" exclaimed Rose, in joking exasperation.  
"What? You two have been greedy enough already. Anyway, I don't think I'm gonna let you have any, Rosie,"  
"Why not?"  
"Well, I notice a certain Slytherin idiot somehow made it into school, despite being unconscious when I last saw him. And you were the only one left on the train at the time. Why did you help him, Rose?"  
Rose sighed, and put her cutlery down. "I don't know, I just felt mean-"  
"_Mean?_" exclaimed Albus, "Why did you feel _mean_?"  
"Well, if you'd been in Malfoy's position, wouldn't you have wanted to be helped?"  
"Yeah, but I wouldn't have been insulting anyone in the first place! And this is _Malfoy_ we're talking about! Why do you care what he wants?"  
"You helped Malfoy?" asked Molly in shock "You helped that _moron_?"  
"Yeah, ok, I helped him! I assisted a Slytherin who was unconscious on a train, after I'd helped put him there, and was in danger of being sent back to London! Just because I have a sense of decency that you don't seem to, Al, doesn't mean you have to turn the tables and make _me_ look like the bad guy!"  
Rose would've stormed off there and then if Hermione hadn't clapped her hands, causing the now empty plates to disappear, and silence to descend on the room.  
She stood up.  
"I am aware that you are all now tired, but I have an extremely important announcement to make, so if you could all pay attention, especially the 4th years."  
Rose, Molly and Albus all jerked their heads towards the headmistress. Was she finally going to explain what was going on this year?  
"Since last year, the Ministry have decided that Inter-House ties are extremely important. The way that prejudices and stereotypes have been created over the years, and passed through the generations, based on which House an individual is in, needs to stop, as it has caused tension and rivalry throughout Hogwarts, and even occurs after you have left school, for one never leaves their House behind. The Ministry wished to add an extra lesson to your timetable, which would include learning about the history of other Houses, as well as your own, and the importance of not allowing stereotypical views to affect you."  
There was a murmur of horror through the students. Normal lessons were bad enough, but ones without magic?  
"However, I managed to talk them out of it, and _into_ a solution which I thought you may all enjoy more. So, it is with great pleasure that I announce the first Inter-House Challenge!"  
Uncertain applause swept through the hall, as no-one really knew what the Inter-House Challenge was. Hermione didn't seem to mind, though.  
"The Inter-House Challenge is a series of 5 events that will take place throughout the year. It will involve using a quality that each House values: you will need bravery, intelligence, loyalty and cunning." She nodded at the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin tables, respectively, as she announced each quality. "The challenges will be dangerous, but exciting, and will involve hard work and concentration to win."  
"It sounds like the Triwizard Tournament!" Albus whispered, "I was right!"  
"I doubt it," Rose told him dryly, "listen,"  
"However, you shall not compete alone. The competition is only for the 4th year-" there was an angry outburst from the other students who could not compete, "-for good reason!" Hermione exclaimed "The Ministry feel that the 3rd years and below are too young, whilst the 5th years upwards need to concentrate on their exams." The hubbub dies down, although angry whispers were still audible "So, as I was saying, you shall not compete alone. The 4th year will be split into groups of four, one student from each House will be placed in each group, and this will be your team for the year. The list of teams will be up in each common room by tomorrow morning, as will more information about The Challenge. I suggest that until then you all rest, as school starts officially tomorrow! So, goodnight and good luck!" Hermione stood up, and left the table, which was the students cue to head to their dormitories.  
Rose wasn't sure if she liked this idea or not. On one hand she loved the idea of uniting the Houses, and the whole adventure aspect of the Challenge sounded really fun; (that was her Gryffindor-ness showing, she thought) but on the other hand she wasn't the most social person, and preferred to work alone. Talking to people she didn't know, and having to spend time with them to win the tournament sounded stressful, if not impossible.  
Molly, however, was over the moon "-this is such a fab idea, your Mum is epic! I can't wait to find out who's in my group, I hope there's a couple of hot lads- that Ravenclaw guy, what's his name... Williams... Nathan Williams or something- well, he's really hot, anyway, and smart, I hear- well, he must be, being in Ravenclaw-"  
"I thought that you liked James?"  
"Well, I do, but it's best to keep my options open."  
Rose shook her head in confusion.  
"Rose, you're the smartest person I know, but you just don't_ get _how I feel sometimes! Do you not get crushes on people?"  
"Well, _yeah_-" she was only human.  
"Whatever. It's my aim for this year to get you a boyfriend. Shouldn't be hard, I noticed a few lads looking at you in the Great Hall," she grinned.  
"Probably because my hair looks weird," Rose replied, trying to flatten it.  
"Nah, I can tell what a boy is thinking when he looks at a girl. Or when a boy looks at a boy. Or a girl looks at a girl." She laughed, "I can't_ wait_ until you get a boyfriend, Rosie! You might _finally _understand me!"  
With that, Molly spun off down the corridor, giggling her head off, for a reason Rose was yet to understand...


	4. Chapter 4

When Rose woke up the next morning, it took her a minute to realise why she was so excited... The she remembered: The Inter-House Challenge! Mu- _Professor Weasley_, sorry, had said that the team lists would be up in the common rooms this morning- was that good or bad?  
There was only one way to find out.  
Rose climbed out of bed, and walked to the window, admiring the view of the Quidditch pitch and the rest of the Hogwarts grounds.  
"Hi Rose," said a voice behind her. Rose turned to see a short-ish girl with a plain face, brown hair and hazel eyes stood behind her. She was skinny for a 4th year, and many people doubted her age.  
"Tracey!" exclaimed Rose "I'm sorry I didn't say hello yesterday-that was rude of me,"  
"Don't worry about it," Tracey told her, smiling, whilst hanging something up. That was one of the things that Rose liked about Tracey-she was very easy-going, unlike the other Gryffindors who were fierce and competitive. "You excited about the Challenge? I like the idea, but I'm not sure how good I'll be."  
"You'll be great, Trace, don't worry. And yeah, I'm excited, but nervous too, mainly about who's in my group."  
"Do you go and see who that is then?" Tracey asked her.  
"No-one's going anywhere without me!" declared Molly, emerging from the bathroom, clearly having had a shower. Her hair was still damp, and was leaving marks where it touched her uniform.  
"We're only going down to the Common Room, Mol," Rose informed her.  
"All the same, I'll come with you; I want to see who's in my group too."

When the three girls reached the Common Room, there was already a small crowd around the notice board, jostling to get a better look. You could gather the 4th years opinions on their groups just by listening to their reactions:  
"-but I _hate_ her!"  
"Who's that?"  
"Well, I'm ok with-"  
"Are we allowed to swap?"  
"-he's alright..."  
"I suppose I can cope with-"  
"-we _never_ get on!"  
"Out of our way!" declared Molly, and the crowd parted like the Red Sea. They all headed either back to their dorms, or down to breakfast, as Molly read out the groups: "So, my group is me, obviously, then from Hufflepuff there's someone called Graham Collins- does anybody know who he is? I've got Katie Thompson from Slytherin- _great_- and, ooh! Nathan Williams from Ravenclaw!" then suddenly "Oh, Rose, you're gonna _love_ this!"Molly exclaimed, mockingly.  
"What, why?" although Rose thought that she already knew what was coming.  
"Your group is you, Thomas Smith from Hufflepuff, your favourite cousin Lucy from Ravenclaw-" Rose sighed. Lucy Weasley was the only cousin that she didn't really get on with. There was nothing wrong with _her_ personally; it was just that the two girls clashed, as they were both so intelligent. However, they greatly differed when it came to rules, and that was where the main problem lay: Lucy wouldn't break a school rule if her life depended on it, but Rose was more like her father when it came to being a bit rebellious- she liked the adrenaline that came from being a daredevil, even if she wasn't quite as big on risks as Molly. So whilst Lucy was declaring that what Rose was about to do was dangerous and could get one or both of them killed, Rose would just ignore her, causing Lucy to go running to her father, Rose's Uncle Percy, and therefore an argument between the two girls. That was a problem that they'd need to overcome if they wanted to get anywhere in the competition. "-and from Slytherin, it's only our favourite Scorpius Malfoy!"  
Just for one tiny micro-second, Rose thought her heart kind of _fluttered_ at the sound of his name. Ridiculous, she knew, because he was a foul-mouthed idiot and they'd always hated each other, and whose heart actually _flutters_ in real life? Didn't that just happen in books?

She dismissed it from her mind.

"Great." said Rose, sarcastically, "I can't wait. What about you, Trace?"  
"I don't know these people..." she murmured apprehensively. "I mean, I've _heard_ of them, but I don't know them personally. How can I work with them if I don't know them?"  
"Well, at least they're not your sworn enemies," Rose comforted her.  
"Anyway... Breakfast?" Asked Molly, who always had her priorities sorted, "But you two might want to get dressed."  
Rose and Tracey looked down at themselves to discover that they were still in their nightwear. "Good idea," Rose said, "C'mon, Trace"

A few minutes later all three girls arrived in the Great Hall, fully dressed in their Gryffindor robes, and headed towards their table.  
"Morning." Grunted Al. Rose could tell that she wasn't forgiven yet.  
"So who's group are you in?" she asked her cousin, trying to make friendly conversation.  
"Alex Flint from Slytherin-he's an idiot, Louis from Ravenclaw, and Emily Carter from Hufflepuff." He told them, not looking up from his plate piled with buttered toast.  
Louis Weasley was the son of Rose's Dad and Al's Mum's eldest brother: Bill. Bill had married a part-Veela, and the good-looking genes had definitely stayed in the family. Louis had ginger hair, like most of the Weasley's, and startling blue eyes from his mother. He was tall and willowy, yet still pulled off the muscular Quidditch player look: a definite heart-throb amongst the year group.  
Louis' older sisters, Victoire and Dominique, had already left Hogwarts, and Victoire was now engaged to Teddy Lupin.  
"Well that's not too bad," Rose told him, making herself a bacon sandwich, "At least you've got Louis. I've got a cousin in my group too." She waited for him to ask who, but she continued anyway when he didn't. "Lucy Weasley. As well as Sc-, I mean _Malfoy_ and Thomas Smith from Hufflepuff. I don't know him that well, but I think you can guess my opinion on the rest of the group." Rose glanced at Albus expectantly, and when he returned the look, she could tell she'd made it worse.  
"In a group with Malfoy, _are we_? Well I bet you're glad you helped him now, aren't you? You might even _get along_! I mean, you two aren't so different-"  
Rose jabbed her wand to Al's chest, whilst Molly and Tracey looked at each other nervously.  
"Who's assaulting my brother?" asked James, stopping behind her. Rose could swear that she heard Molly make a strange noise of excitement "Oh, it's you, Rose. Feel free to continue." He was about walk off to sit with his friends further down the table, when Al called out.  
"Wait!"  
"What?" James asked irritably. "I'm sure you can fight your own battles, Al, and Rose wouldn't threaten anybody without reason, so I don't know what you want me to do."  
Rose removed her wand from Al, although there was now a dint in his jumper "He compared me to Malfoy." She laughed awkwardly, "It sounds like a pathetic reason to threaten him now, doesn't it?"  
"Not really. Who'd want to be like _him_?" James threw an unsubtle look over to the Slytherin table, to be met by the stares of the Slytherins, who scowled at him over their food. "See what I mean?"  
"But the thing is, brother dearest," began Al, "I don't think our Rose has so much of a problem with Malfoy. Notice how he made it to school after we left him alone, _unconscious_, with her?"  
Realisation dawned James' face as he sat down in between Molly and Rose. "You helped him?" he asked, his tone neutral, as he reached for the cornflakes, "That's quite admirable. Well done."  
"_Admirable_?!_"_ screeched Albus, "Well_ done_? He's our worst enemy, James, or have you_ both_ forgotten that?"  
"No." James replied, his mouth full of cereal. Swallowing, he continued: "But Rose knew how you'd react if you found out, yet she did it anyway. Pretty brave of you."  
"I'm not scared of _Al!_" Rose pointed out  
"I think what James is trying to say," interrupted Molly, "is that Rose knew what the right thing to do was, and she did it, despite the consequences. Aren't Gryffindor's supposed to do that: be the good guys, and do what's right, no matter what everyone else wants them to do? Your parents are like that, so I hear. Rose was just following their footsteps."  
There was a moments silence while everyone just accepted that Molly the air-head was giving an in-depth moral argument for Rose assisting a Slytherin.  
"Yeah, but Mum and Dad never actually _helped_ their enemies!" pointed out Al.  
"Actually, they did. Dad told me how Scorpius' Dad and his friends set the Room of Requirement on fire during the Final Battle, and how he and Uncle Ron delayed their escape to fly back to rescue them."  
Al didn't have a response for that. He simply said: "I'm full." And left.  
"Thanks, James" said Rose, sincerely.  
"No worries. Al was being an idiot, anyway. The whole point of this Challenge is to make friends with people in other Houses, and you were doing that."  
"Except I wasn't. Malfoy asked to make a truce with me yesterday, before he even knew about the tournament, and I laughed at the idea. Now I'm sort of regretting it."  
"_Really?_ A _Malfoy_ offered to make a truce? He doesn't sound like his Dad, then. When Dad and Uncle Ron talk about Draco, he seems a lot worse than his son. He would rather have jumped off the Astronomy Tower than make peace with a Gryffindor, let alone a Weasley!"  
"Well, maybe he's better than his Dad." Suggested Rose, barely audibly.

You could always rely on Molly to fill a silence.  
"So, James, I heard you got made Quidditch Captain over the summer! Congratulations! When are tryouts?"  
Rose looked at Tracey and rolled their eyes, whilst James launched into a long-winded speech about Quidditch, and Molly twirled her hair, batting her long eyelashes.

"Attention please!" called Hermione from the teachers table, "I am assuming that now all you 4th years are aware of your groups for the Challenge. I have a few words that I would like to discuss with you about the first of the 5 challenges, which will take place a month today. Can everyone who is not 4th year please go to their first lesson, as missing any part of your education is not something that anyone should make a habit of." As chairs scraped whilst the students residing in them left, Rose couldn't help but think that when her Mum said: 'missing any part of your education is not something that anyone should make a habit of', she was referring to Rose's Dad and Uncle, who had probably missed weeks of school with being in the hospital wing, and on exciting quests to find the Philosophers Stone, or the Chamber of Secrets. Rose often wished that her school days could be as exciting as they had been for her parents, and she supposed that the Inter-House Challenge would be the closest she would ever get.  
"Bye, Rose, Tracey, Molly," James said, nodding to each of them in turn, except for Molly, who got a wink.  
She nearly melted on the spot.  
"Ok, 4th years. If there is anyone not present for whatever reason, I am relying on you to pass on the facts," Hermione looked straight at Rose, clearly having noticed that Albus was not there. "As I said last night, there will be 5 challenges, and each of the first four will require qualities and attributes that belong to a particular House. The first event will be based on Slytherin House. This means that the Slytherin representative in each group will be responsible for teaching the other three members how to act like a Slytherin, and how to perform well in Potions, which is traditionally Slytherins best subject."  
Great, Rose thought. She was going to have to deal with Scorpius sooner than she would've liked.  
"You may have hoped that you would get lessons allocated to preparing for the first task, but I am afraid that it is not to be this way. You must prepare in your own time: in the library, in the grounds, in an empty classroom, or in any of the four Common Rooms. Yes, I am going to open the Common Rooms to people of other Houses for the first time on record. Please do not make me regret this decision otherwise your group will be out of the tournament, and in disgrace."  
Rose's brain kind of slowed down. Slytherin's in the Gryffindor Common Room. In _her_ Common Room. The one place where she was safe from the names that the other students called her and her family was being invaded. No. Her Mum couldn't have done this. It was against everything she believed in! Or was it?  
"Settle down!" Hermione called over the hubbub that had broken out- Rose could tell that she wasn't the only one with this view, although others thought it an excellent idea- they'd always wanted to see the other Common Rooms.  
"Now, I know that there will be mixed opinions on this matter, but it's best if you all just learn that this is how it is, and will be for the rest of the year, providing nothing goes wrong. Now, I'm assuming that you'll all want to know more about the first task. As I said, it will be Slytherin-based, which means that you will need to look up and learn simple potions and antidotes. You should also know how to become cunning and ambitious, if you are not already. Slytherins, do not think that this means that you don't need to do anything, because there is always more you can learn. For example, I bet you didn't know that a Kappa's source of strength is a water-filled depression atop its head! Should the water spill, the creature is drained of its powers... fascinating." The students exchanged glances, wondering if the stress of being the head had finally got too much for Hermione. "Now, hurry off too your lessons, for you have already missed far too much, and remember to meet up with your group tonight, after your final lesson. The Great Hall will be open before dinner, entirely for this purpose, but the tables shall not be here. Instead there will be desks for 4, so you and your group can get to know each other and practise what I have told you to. Now, have a good first day!" Hermione waved the 4th years away and walked towards her office, leaving Rose wondering if she would be able to survive tonight's meeting with Lucy and Scorpius, without hexing anyone.


	5. Chapter 5

Rose's first day back at Hogwarts involved her talking to several people that she didn't like.

She started off having Charms with the Ravenclaws, in which Lucy came over to her, hidden amongst the chaos of flying pillows, and asked her if they could maybe work something out: "I know that we've never seen eye-to-eye, Rose, but this competition's important to me, and I'm sure that it is to you too. So maybe we could put our differences aside, and, you know, work together? Two brains are better than one!" Lucy attempted a friendly smile, but it didn't reach her eyes, clearly holding no affection for her cousin.

They were a strange pair; similar in several ways, yet different in just as many.  
They had the same build, both slightly on the willowy side, with gentle faces disguising a fiery personality. However, whilst Rose's eyes were a kindly chocolate brown, Lucy's were dark blue; full of determination and ambition. Rose's hair was in thick ginger curls, worn loose around her shoulders, but Lucy's was straight and dark brown, tied up firmly in a very business-like ponytail. They had the same posture, though: calm and confident, with their arms folded and an annoyed pout on their faces, showing that _they_ were the ones in charge, and weren't going to take any rubbish from anyone.

This was what caused there problems: neither liked to be bossed around. However, Rose was prepared to take one for the team, just this once.  
"Yeah, ok." She attempted a smile, holding out her hand, "Friends?"  
Lucy relaxed a little, and clasped her cousin's hand in hers, before shaking it firmly, "Friends," she agreed. They looked at each other awkwardly for a moment, before releasing the grip, and Lucy saying, "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have pillows to Charm,"  
"Yes, of course, as do I. I'll see you tonight, before dinner, for a team talk?"  
"Certainly. We'll have to keep the others in check!" Lucy joked, and Rose laughed politely, before turning back to her real friends who were hiding smirks. As soon as Lucy was out of earshot, Molly exploded into laughter, and Rose let out a groan of horror.  
"Say nothing." She ordered Molly, before burying her face in the pile of pillows that should've flown in a box at the other side of the classroom by now. She watched as Lucy effortlessly manoeuvred the last of her pillows into the box, and turned to talked to Louis Weasley, who seemed to be looking for an escape route. He found one in Albus.

"Sorry, Luce, I've got to go and talk to Al, you know, team meeting and all that," he explained hastily, before skirting around his fan club, (which consisted of Lucy's Ravenclaw friends,) and joining Albus and a handful of other boys at the other side of the classroom. Rose could see that Louis' reaction to Lucy had been similar to hers, if him rolling his eyes and laughing at the Ravenclaw was anything to go by, and she suddenly felt a stab of guilt for being casually cruel towards Lucy. It was something that she just did, without even thinking about it, but suddenly she saw how it must feel to be Lucy: desperately trying to get on with people, who hated her superior intelligence. There was nothing Lucy could do about her brains, apart from dumbing herself down, but Rose didn't see what she'd achieve by doing that. In fact, Lucy's situation reminded Rose an awful lot of how her Mum had described her first year at Hogwarts, before Ron and Harry had befriended her. Rose resolved to be nicer to Lucy from now on, and to stick up for her cousin if she heard anyone insulting her.

The day continued fairly normally, and Rose soon felt as if she'd never been away. That was one of the many great things about Hogwarts- you always settled back in so easily, probably because it was a second home to most of the students.  
To some it was the only home that they'd ever known.

By the time the school day was over, and Rose was heading toward the Great Hall with Molly for the first team meeting, the former was growing tired of Molly's daydreaming about James. In fact, in Molly's eyes, he seemed to be perfect in every way.  
"I mean, he's tall and handsome, not to mention clever and talented- and we both love Quidditch, I would say that it's destined, but I don't believe in destiny, neither does James. He's too sensible for that sort of thing, and he's _so_ mature, and really hot! Would you ask him for me? I mean, ask him if he likes me?"  
Rose sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that day. "What do you want me to say? 'Hey, James, I was just wondering if you had a crush on my friend Molly, because she likes you, so it'd be great if you'd just say yes and take her to Hogsmeade or something'." Rose joked sarcastically.  
"No, you can't say that! That's far too obvious!" Rose was tempted to say 'Just like you, then', but stopped herself. "Just bring me up in conversation or something, and see how he reacts, or ask him who he likes. He'd probably tell you, you're his cousin."  
"Really, I'd completely forgotten," Rose muttered under her breath. She was quickly losing patience with Molly and her daydreaming over James, "But James and I don't talk about stuff like that, in fact, we barely talk at all!"  
"You'll figure something out, you're the smartest witch of our age after all,"

As the two girls stepped into the Great Hall, the first change they noticed was that the tables were, as Hermione had told them at breakfast, set for four, instead of in the usual long House tables. Rose found this felt strange, to say the least, as she'd never seen the Great Hall set out like this before. The second thing that she noticed was that the usual cheery atmosphere was severely depleted. Instead of the lively chatter that normally rang through the room, there was an awkward silence, never broken by anything more than the squeak of a chair, the opening of a door, or the tapping of nails on a table.

Hermione stood at the forefront out of the hall, and clapped her hands for the silence that was already present.  
"Ok, students. Now that we are all here, your preparation for the first task may begin. I cannot give you any hints as to what the challenge may contain, other than what I told you at breakfast this morning, but it is extremely important that you revise what I have already told you: potions and antidotes. The Slytherin member of the group will be Team Captain until the first task is over. I suggest you begin this meeting with introducing yourselves to each other, as I doubt that you will all be friends already. I hope you aren't anyway, as that'd make this whole Challenge slightly pointless. You may begin!" Hermione finished, as Rose spotted the rest of her group sat at a table.

She made her way over rather awkwardly, as the tables were quite close together, and sat down in the last empty chair. She glanced around at her group, all of whom were looking at her expectantly. Lucy sat to Rose's right, and had a pile of books in front of her, all based on potions, antidotes, or Salazar Slytherin, and was resting her elbows on them, her face perched atop her clenched fists. Scorpius sat opposite Rose, leaning back in his chair, with only the back two legs on the ground. He placed his hands behind his head, looking at Rose with raised eyebrows, as if unimpressed by her presence. She felt a strange sensation in her stomach- a cross between irritation and that fluttering she'd had this morning when she discovered that Scorpius was in her team. Feeling herself going red, Rose glanced round to a shorter boy with light brown hair and a slightly dumpy stature. This must be the Thomas Smith that she didn't know. He smiled nervously at her through gentle, hazel eyes, and attempted to smooth out his already neat hair.  
There was an awkward silence before it dawned on Rose that the others were looking to her as group leader, despite Hermione having declared the Slytherin's as the ones in charge.  
She cleared her throat. "Ok, well... hi. I'm Rose, Rose Weasley, as most of you know, and I'm in Gryffindor." She looked pointedly at Lucy for her to continue. She got the message.  
"I'm Lucy Weasley, Rose's cousin, and I'm a Ravenclaw. It's our fathers who were brothers, in case you're wondering." Scorpius clearly couldn't care less, but Thomas at least _pretended_ to be interested.  
"I'm Thomas Smith, and I'm a proud Hufflepuff." He grinned nervously.  
When Malfoy continued to stare at his nails, Rose prompted him. "Malfoy? Are you going to introduce yourself or not?"  
He looked up and stared Rose in the eye, "Why should I? You all already know who I am."  
"I don't." Thomas pointed out quietly. Whether he was serious or not, Rose wasn't sure: she thought that everyone knew Scorpius.

Because he was such a bully, obviously.

Scorpius' chair clunked to the ground as all four legs touched the floor. "Well, maybe I _should_ introduce myself then," he began, in a silky smooth voice. Rose recognised it from the tone he used before the two of them got into a duel. "My name's Scorpius Malfoy. I'm in Slytherin, just like my father, and his father, and their father's. In fact, I'm a pureblood, which is why I vastly prefer to stay away from Mudblood scum like Weasley here."

For some reason this comment hit home more than any of the other insults he'd thrown at her. Scorpius had called Rose and her family all the names under the sun, including 'Mudblood', several times before, so why was this particular occasion affecting her more than before? She felt her eyes stinging, but blinked the tears back. She couldn't _cry_ in front of Scorpius, he'd never let her forget it.  
It was her fault for rejecting his offer of a truce- if she'd done that, then he would've stopped insulting her by now. She took a deep breath.

"C'mon, Malfoy," she said, attempting a joking grin, "no need to be so rude. Why don't you tell us all about how your Quidditch practise went over the summer?"  
He looked at her, confused, for a moment, as if wondering if it was a trick question of some sort. He decided that it wasn't, and began to describe the new broomstick he'd been bought, and the Quidditch wear that'd come with it.  
As Scorpius talked, his eyes lit up, and his voice lost its snobbishness, which Rose considered a very pleasant change. She also realised that if he'd been good-looking before, when he was sulking, he was positively male-model standard now. Not that that meant anything to her.  
After a few minutes Malfoy trailed off, suddenly aware of how open he'd been. His frown returned to his face. "What about you, Weasley?" He asked, before realising that there were two Weasley's present that he could be referring to, "Oh, I'll have to be more specific now, I suppose. What about you, _Lucy_, do you like Quidditch?" Although Scorpius' voice had a heavy dose of sarcasm in it, Rose considered it huge progress that he was talking to a Weasley in a civil manner.  
Lucy launched into a long-winded discussion about the dangers of Quidditch, whilst Rose sighed at her dreariness. She looked up to see Scorpius doing the same thing, and they grinned at each other.  
She caught herself.  
Rule Number 1 of being Ron Weasley's daughter:  
-One must not have anything to do with any relative of Draco Malfoy.

That included grinning at his son.  
But thinking about it, where was the logic? Why should she not make friends with Scorpius, if he wanted to get along with her? Just because her parents hadn't got on with Draco, it didn't mean that his son was the same, and Hermione was doing all she could to encourage Inter-House ties! Rose decided that if she and Scorpius could get along, it would benefit everyone, even if her father would be angry for a short time... Ok, he'd be angry for longer than 'a short time', but that wasn't the point: the point was that this year was all about getting on with people from other houses, and her befriending Scorpius would do just that.

If he wanted to be her friend, that was, as when Rose looked back at him, Scorpius was glowering again.  
This boy was a real mystery, she thought to herself in a nervous excitement.

Sorry it's not as exciting as you might've hoped, but I wanted to show the beginning of Rose and Scorpius working through their problems. Unfortunately, I think that Rose is going to struggle keeping her promise about befriending Lucy, so she'd going to need Scorpius soon... ;)  
If you liked this, feel free to review  
Similarly, if there's anything particular you'd like to see in future chapters, please tell me, and I'll try to include it, as long as it fits with my planned plotline.  
Thanks for reading! x 


	6. Chapter 6

The rest of the group-bonding session, or whatever it was, passed with nothing much to comment on, except Scorpius slipping in and out of snobbishness.  
Rose and Lucy desperately tried to work together and teach the boys about simple potions, but it was at times like these when Scorpius decided that he was above this.  
"Look, Scorpius, you're supposed to be group leader! At least put in some effort!" Rose exclaimed angrily  
"We're not on first name terms yet, Weasley," he glowered, although the corner of his mouth was turned up in amusement.  
"Malfoy, we need to talk," Rose stood up and walked to the corner of the Hall, unnoticed by most other students, as they were milling around themselves, running backwards and forwards from their common rooms with useful books.  
With a sigh, that clearly said he was above this, Scorpius stood up and joined Rose in the corner.

"What is it, Weasley?"  
"We _have_ to be on first name terms, _Scorpius_, or how are we going to know which Weasley you're talking to, it could be me or Lucy! Not to mention the fact that this Challenge is supposed to make people from different houses become friends- how are we supposed to do that if you won't use my first name?"  
"Who says we need to be friends? Or that I _want_ to be friends?"  
"You did. Yesterday, you asked for a truce. Right now, I'm wishing I'd said yes to that."  
Rose could've sworn that Scorpius' eyes lit up, just for a second, "You do? I mean- it's a bit late for that now Weasley. I'm not one to offer a truce again, if you've already said no. My pride prevents me."  
Rose almost screamed in frustration. "Come _on,_ Scorpius! Get a grip! Who _cares_ about your 'pride'? What I care about is winning this Tournament, and so should you!"  
"See, this is the problem, Weasley. You only want us to be 'friends' so you can win this stupid Challenge, and I don't care about the Challenge. I didn't offer a truce so we'd win, I'll admit it: I wanted to be friends with you! Only because you're a dangerous enemy, Weasley, as much as it pains me to admit it. But you laughed at me, so how do you reckon I feel now? Willing to make up with you just so we can win? No way."  
Rose pondered this. He was right, she supposed. She hadn't wanted to make a truce with him because he was Scorpius, and he was a dickhead, but now she wanted to be friends so they could win. That was shallow and cruel, she thought, and Rose knew that she'd hate to be treated that way. But she couldn't shake the feeling that she actually _wanted_ to be friends with Malfoy. It sounded insane even in her head, but since Rose and her cousins had jinxed him on the train, he seemed like a nicer person. Not nice like her friends were, but definitely nicer.  
Rose couldn't admit that. If Scorpius thought he was becoming soft, this year would be a living nightmare.  
"Well, let's be hypothetical. Let's say that I rejected your offer of a truce because our family history made it seem like my only choice. But what if, since then, I realised that if I want to stop fighting with someone, I shouldn't care about what's happened before. It's all water under the bridge after all." She looked up at him hopefully.  
"But is that true, Weasley, or are you just making a fool of me?" He asked quietly, and Rose could've sworn that Scorpius looked _hurt_!_ Offended, _even. Malfoy never got upset by insults; he simply threw them back at whoever was arguing with him. And Rose hadn't even insulted him yet! What had happened to the Scorpius she knew and hated?  
Rose didn't want to be the one to admit that she'd been wrong, but if she was to work well with Scorpius for the rest of the year, it might be her only choice.

She took a deep breath, "No, it's true. I said no because I was still offended from the train incident, but I shouldn't have been. We definitely repaid you for that one." Her eyes glinted with the memory of jinxing Malfoy into an unconscious green mess in the corridor, before realising that it probably wasn't the most tactful thing to remind him of when they were trying to get along for a change. "I mean, I shouldn't have said no to your offer of a truce, but not because of the competition, because there's no point in this constant arguing." She took another deep breath, "So, even if your pride prevents you from offering another truce, I really hope it doesn't stop you accepting one." Her voice held no hatred, only hope, as she held out her hand tentatively, "How about we put our differences aside, and work together for a change, _Scorpius_?"

He looked from her outstretched hand to her deep brown eyes, framed by her ginger locks of curly hair. He considered. How could anyone say no to a face like that?  
"I'll give it a try. I won't insult you, as long as you return the favour for me," he grimaced slightly, as if being on first name terms with Rose pained him "_Rose_,"  
She smiled.

Once back in the dorm that night with Molly, Rose explained what had happened with her and Scorpius. It was hard to judge Molly's expression, as she had her poker face on.  
"You can't just sit there!" Rose cried in frustration, "At least tell me what you think! Have I done the right thing?"  
"I'm not sure... It'll mean that you two will be able to work together better, but Al will go mental,"  
"Who says that he has to know?"  
"He'll find out when he sees you and Malfoy as best buds."  
"Hah. Yeah, right. Let's see if Scorpius keeps to his word first."

*Meanwhile, in the Slytherin dorms*

"That Potter boy's a right idiot," said Alex Flint, leaning on the corner of his four-poster.  
"Well, at least he's not a know it all like Rose," Malfoy assured his friend whilst climbing into bed.  
"Did you just use Weasley's first name?" Flint was wearing an expression of shock, anger and amusement combined.  
"Erm... yeah. We made an agreement to use each other's first names and try to get along." He saw Flints disbelieving expression "Don't look at me like that! It's only so we can win the tournament!"  
"Are you sure?" Alex asked.  
"What d'you mean?"  
"Well, she wouldn't be the first girl to fall for your arrogant charm," Flint joked.  
"Rose doesn't _like_ me! She hates me more than you understand!" Scorpius spat.  
"I really doubt that."  
"What makes you so good with judging girls feelings?"  
"I'm not, generally, but, like I said, lots of girls do like you, Scor', and I think Rose might end up being another of those, if you're lucky,"  
"What do you mean 'if I'm lucky'?" snapped Scorpius.  
"Well, she's quite fit, isn't she? But she doesn't strike me as the sort who'd want to be bothered with trying to win anyone over. I guess if you want her, _you'll_ have to go get her."  
"Where's this come from, Flint?! I don't _want_ anyone, least of all Rose Weasley! Now I'm going to sleep. Goodnight."

But Scorpius couldn't sleep.  
He had Flint's voice saying 'she's quite fit, isn't she?' going round in his head, along with Rose's eyes as she suggested that they 'put aside their differences'.  
It was stupid, he knew that, but telling himself that didn't help him sleep.  
She was just a Gryffindor, even if she was slightly smarter than average, and _extremely_ pretty...  
No. He had to stop thinking like this.  
He didn't care about her- she was just a rung on the ladder... the ladder to winning the Tournament, yeah, that was all, that was it... 


	7. Chapter 7

The next couple of weeks were a blur of classes, laughter, and arguments.

The arguments were because Lucy Weasley had decided that the group needed to meet _every evening_ in order to get through the first task.

"We need to be prepared!" was her argument.

"Lucy, it's one thing being prepared, and another reading over instructions on making potions all day _and_ night!" Rose pointed out, "We're already getting more homework than last year, and I'm struggling to do it all, especially with all these meetings that you're trying to make us have!"

"Well bring your homework to the meeting, then!" Lucy argued.

"But what would that achieve? I wouldn't be able to learn how to make potions whilst doing my Transfiguration!"

"Look, Wea- sorry, _Lucy_," Scorpius was having trouble being on first name terms with Lucy, as she clearly irritated him. "We're already so much further ahead than the others; they've barely even started preparing! Just give us a week off to do our homework and have a social life-"

"So Lucy will just be doing her homework for that week, then," Rose muttered under her breath. So much for the promise to be kind to her Ravenclaw cousin.

"-have a social life, then we can start meeting up again. It'll do us all good to have a break from it, I'm getting constant headaches!"

"Oh, poor you, Malfoy!" Lucy had refused to use Scorpius' first name, saying that they didn't need his alliance to win. "Fine. We'll cut down the meetings to one every two days."

"Three," suggested Scorpius, "One every three days."

"No, we won't get everything done then," said Thomas. He'd been so quiet that the others had almost forgotten that he was there. Lucy threw him a grateful smile.

"Fine, once every two days." growled Scorpius, "Is that ok with everyone? Next meeting isn't tomorrow, but the day after."

"No, it's the Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts then," pointed out Rose.

"Why do you have to be so _awkward,_ Rose?" exclaimed Lucy, losing patience.

"Is it wrong that I want to do more this year than just sit inside with _you_ and read?" she hadn't meant it to sound so offensive, but the damage was already done.

"Why should the rest of the group suffer just because I'm conscientious, and you two aren't?" Lucy snapped, glaring at Rose and Scorpius,

"You're hardly suffering, Weasley!" Scorpius exclaimed in angry astonishment, "You're missing one freaking revision session! Just put it off until the day after, or have it without Rose, but don't yell at her for wanting to be on the Quidditch team!"

Lucy looked taken aback by Scorpius' outburst. He was usually so calm, and conducted anger through insults accompanied with a superior smirk. It was extremely rare for him to shout at anyone, so Rose wasn't shocked to see her cousins face drain of colour.

"I... I was just... I just want what's best for the team," she sighed, sinking back onto a sofa in the Ravenclaw Common Room.

"I know you do, Luce," It was Thomas, who boldly sat next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. Lucy gave him a sideways glance, as if about to ask him what on earth he thought he was doing, but then thought better of it, rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "And you're doing a great job,"

Rose and Scorpius looked at each other, half-guiltily, and half-awkwardly.

"Well, are we finished for this evening then?" Rose asked politely.

"Yeah, I think so," mumbled Lucy, without opening her eyes, "See you on Thursday,"

Scorpius and Rose looked at each other again, then to Thomas who was trying to sooth the clearly upset Lucy, before leaving the Common Room.

"Well, that was weird," Rose laughed nervously, once the door had shut behind them.

"Yeah..." Scorpius agreed. The pair stood there awkwardly in the semi-darkness for a moment, waiting for the other to say something. Scorpius couldn't see Rose properly; it was her silhouette that he was taking in. Once again he noticed how much she'd changed over the summer, and definitely for the better. Her hair was thicker and fell in gentle curls, as oppose to the straggly mess it had been in their 3rd year, she had shot up in height and her figure had filled out. However, her face hadn't changed, other than looking slightly older. Scorpius couldn't believe that he hadn't noticed before how pretty Rose actually was: her complexion was practically perfect, and she looked so sweet with her-heart shaped face and pale pink lips. But the cherry on the cake were her wide brown eyes, framed with long, curling eyelashes. She was undoubtedly beautiful.  
Or 'fit', as Flint had called her.

He moved towards her without really thinking about what he was doing

Rose was frozen. Was Scorpius Malfoy about to _kiss_ her? No, no, no. He didn't like her. She didn't like him. They still hated each other. And those grey eyes of his weren't attractive at all.  
_He's _definitely_ too close now_, she thought, _but_ _he doesn't like me, it'll all be a prank or something. My friends and cousins would never forgive me if I kissed a Slytherin, least of all Draco Malfoy's son.  
I need to leave, _now_, before I do something I'll regret._

"Oooops, gotta go!" she exclaimed, unfreezing and ducking out of the way, leaving Scorpius stood alone. He opened his eyes to see Rose half way down the corridor, calling "Bye, Scorpius, see you on Thursday!"

_Dammit,_ he thought, as he headed to the Slytherin dorms. _She rejected me! If I can't get a Weasley, what chance do I have with anyone else?_ He mentally scolded himself for thinking cruelly about Rose, and then for trying to kiss her. _What if she tells her friends? I can duel one of the Potter's, and I could easily beat her little brother, but all three at once? I'm not liking those odds. And even if they don't duel me over it, once Rose tells that big-mouthed friend of hers, Saunders, the whole year will know, and probably most of the school! Shit! Why did I try and kiss her? I don't even _like_ her!  
_  
'C'mon, Scorpius,' said another voice inside his head, 'it's time to be honest with yourself.'

_Ok, I do like her then! What difference does that make? It's worse, if anything, because she doesn't like me back!_

'Maybe not at the moment...'

_They say that talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity, _he thought, but started wondering about what Flint had said a couple of weeks before:  
'She doesn't strike me as the sort who'd want to be bothered with trying to win anyone over. I guess if you want her, _you'll_ have to go get her."  
Scorpius had laughed that off at the time, saying that he wasn't interested in Rose at all. What had changed since then that had made him try to kiss her? There was nothing he could think of... maybe he was under the influence of a Love Potion? No, he couldn't be, because if he was, he wouldn't have thought it a possibility. That was just the way the potion worked.

So he actually _liked_ Rose Weasley. Was that good or bad?

Well, Scorpius enjoyed the buzz he got every time he saw her, which he'd dismissed as his imagination at first, but was now clearly because of his feelings for her. And he would get to spend the entire year working with her, even if he did have to put up wither arrogant cousin too.

On the other hand, there was no way anything could come of his feelings. She was a Weasley, he was a Malfoy. Their families hated each other. No one would accept them, even if it turned out that Rose returned his feelings, which it was clear that she didn't.

Why couldn't he have fallen for a fellow Slytherin or something? Flint was right about the fact that several girls liked Scorpius' 'arrogant charm', so why couldn't he have gone for one of them instead of Rose, who he stood no chance with? He'd noticed other boys looking at her across the Great Hall this year, although Rose herself had been blissfully unaware of the attention she was getting. But once she did, surely she'd choose one of the others. A boy her family would like, who would be gentlemanly and considerate, intelligent and caring. _I'm not any of those_, he thought miserably, _I couldn't be considerate if my life depended on it, and my intelligence is mediocre. I suppose I could be gentlemanly, my father has trained me to be, but only to other pure-bloods. If he saw me giving up my seat to Rose, or something, he'd throw a fit! _Scorpius smiled for a minute, imagining his father's reaction to such a scenario, but then remembered the mess he was in. _What am I gonna do?!_

Meanwhile, on the other side of the school, Rose was wondering what on earth had happened. She wanted to tell someone, discuss it with them, ask for advice, but there was no-one she could turn to. Molly would be the obvious choice; she was Rose's best friend, she knew about boys, and would be able to give advice. But Rose wanted it to be kept secret, and although she was sure that Molly would try to, the temptation to spread this piece of gossip would probably win in the end.  
Tracey would be able to keep quiet, but it was debateable that she knew even less than Rose where boys were concerned.  
And any of Rose's cousins? Well, Lily was too young; Hugo was her younger brother so that'd be weird. James and Al might try to duel Scorpius, and that wouldn't work out well for the team's chance to win the Inter-House Cup. Lucy wouldn't have a clue what to do, and Rose wasn't sure if they were even on speaking terms at the moment. That left Louis, who Rose wasn't really close enough to, and Fred and Roxanne.  
Bingo. Roxanne would have the answer.

As soon as Rose entered the Gryffindor Common Room, she saw Fred and Roxy surrounded by other students, who were all trying to by Weasley's Wizard Wheezes goods.

"Only two Skiving Snackboxes left! Get 'em whilst they last!" cried Roxanne, over the hubbub of noisy potential customers.

"Canary Creams, reduced to only 5 Sickles! That's a bargain you can't refuse!" Fred yelled, "Oh, hello there, Rosie, what can we get you?"

"Believe it or not, I don't want to buy anything, Fred, I'd like to talk to Roxanne,"

"Well, that's me put in my place! Roxy, Rose wants you!" Roxy turned away from her group of customers, thrust everything she was carrying into Fred's hand, who pretended to be offended, and walked over to her cousin.

"Hi, Rose, what's up?"

"Erm, I know this is a bit weird, but can we talk about boys?" Rose asked nervously. Roxanne looked at her in disbelief.

"Well, yeah, but this isn't like you Rose, are you feeling ok?" she laughed, her coppery hair swinging as she moved her head, "Let's go and sit down," They went and took a couple of empty chairs in the corner of the room. "So, what's the problem?"

"It's like being at the doctors," Rose laughed, before becoming serious again, "Can you keep it secret?"

"Oh, god, you've not done anything stupid have you?" Roxanne asked nervously,

"Not what you're thinking of, no," Rose reassured her, "But can you promise not to tell anyone?"

"As long as me keeping it secret doesn't put anyone in danger,"

"It doesn't,"

"Ok, then, I promise,"

Rose took a deep breath, "Scorpius Malfoy tried to kiss me," she looked up to see Roxanne's reaction. She was looking confused.

"Is that a good or bad thing? I mean, did you want him to?"

"That's the thing, I'm not sure. I shouldn't, because of our family history and everything. Al went crazy when he found that I'd helped him on the Hogwarts Express, you know, after we jinxed him, so how would he react if Scorpius and I got together?"

"But, Rose, Malfoy's a right idiot. He's pro-pureblood about everything, as well as being a judgemental, sexist and racist bully. No wonder Al was fuming!" Roxanne was looking quite angry now.

"Don't be annoyed, Roxy! He seems to have mellowed a bit this year, anyway,"

"He hadn't changed on the train when he called you all Mudblood scum!" Roxanne pointed out indignantly.

"I know, but since then he's been nicer," Rose told her cousin,

"Maybe to you, because apparently he likes you, but I'd prefer it if you weren't involved with anyone like that... _especially_ him,"

"C'mon, Roxy, try and see it from my point of view! I've never had any male attention before, and then someone good-looking like Scorpius tries to kiss me, that's a pretty dramatic change!"

"I know, I understand, Rose, but has it occurred to you that he might just be using you to win the tournament?" As soon as Roxanne suggested her theory, Rose felt her stomach knot. She hadn't even considered the possibility that Scorpius might try to use her, but hearing Roxanne say it made a lot more sense than Scorpius actually liking a Weasley.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Rose told her cousin, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice, "I'll stay away from him as much as this tournament will permit,"

"That's my girl. Now, don't worry about Malfoy, he's not worth your time,"

Rose wondered if it was wrong that she felt a stab of anger towards Roxanne every time she insulted Malfoy, yet Rose was fuming with him too. She stood up, "I've had a long day, I think I'll go to bed,"

"Ok. Good night, Rosie," Roxanne replied, before rushing back over to Fred, who was trying to auction off his final Skiving Snackbox.

Rose sighed, turned, and climbed the stairs to her dormitory, cursing Malfoy under her breath.

Sorry it takes me so long to update the chapters, I like to proof read a lot to avoid grammar and spelling errors. ;)  
So, if you liked it, feel free to follow/favourite me/the story!  
Or review... that's even better :D  
Anyway, thanks for reading, if there's anything you'd like to see in future chapters, put it in a review, and I'll try to include it.

Thanks again,  
Lucy x


	8. Chapter 8

The morning of the first task was filled with nerves at anticipation amongst the 4th years. There were rumours flying around about what they'd have to do, and competitiveness was definitely spreading, although some groups were still struggling to get along.

One of these groups was Rose's.

Since her heart-to-heart with Roxanne, Rose had distanced herself from Scorpius, increasing friction amongst the group. Rose wasn't talking to Malfoy, and Lucy wasn't talking to either of them. Thomas was willing to speak to anyone, but Scorpius simply ignored him, meaning the former went around feeling hurt and morbid. This irritated Rose no end, as the way she saw it, it was Thomas' fault for trying to be nice to someone like Malfoy, who'd just get annoyed by his efforts.

So you could say that Hermione's plan wasn't quite working out.

Rose sat amongst Molly, Tracey and Albus at breakfast, discussing how the past month had gone, and wondering what the outcome of the day would be:

"Well, I don't have high hopes for my team. No-one's speaking to each other, except Lucy and Thomas," Rose sighed, messing with her bowl of cornflakes, but not really eating much.  
"C'mon, Rosie, you'll be fine! You've got two brain-boxes, a real hardcore Slytherin and... and Thomas," Molly finished lamely,  
"Yeah, right,"  
"We're so gonna beat you lot!" Albus exclaimed. He'd started talking to Rose again since he'd noticed her ignoring Malfoy. "Me and Louis make a great team, Emily's actually pretty cool, she knows how to get on with people and is a real hard-worker, so thanks to her, we've got a lot of practise in. Flint's still a bit if an idiot, but nowhere near as bad as he was at the start of the year. I think he likes Emily, to be honest, and is trying to win her over by... well, by not being an idiot. What a charmer."  
The others laughed, before Molly decided to give her view, "I think we might actually do pretty well, if Katie would stop being such a diva!" When the others looked at her in confusion, she rolled her eyes: "Katie Thompson, Slytherin. She's a right drama-queen, and spends all our meetings flirting with Nathan! Obviously, he's too busy being smart to take any interest in her, but it's annoying all the same. Then we've got some guy from Hufflepuff called Graham Collins who doesn't speak, he just sits there and nods when we ask him anything, although he's actually pretty good at making up potions and stuff." She sighed, "Still, it's not as much fun as it could've been,"  
"Does anybody know where the first task is, and at what time?" Tracey piped up. The others looked at each other, then shook their heads,  
"I was hoping Mum- sorry- _Professor Weasley_ would tell us at breakfast,"  
"She probably will, in a minute," No sooner were the words out of Al's mouth, than Hermione stood up and clapped her hand for silence. "Told you!" grinned Al.

"Good morning students!" Hermione exclaimed, "I would like to speak to the 4th years," There was a round of grumbling, as the other students were still jealous that they were not getting to compete in the Inter-House Challenge. "If all you 4th years would follow me now, I will take you to the location of the First Task, where you will meet with the rest of your group. Other students, please finish your breakfast and hurry off to your first lesson,"

As everyone except the 4th years left, Rose and Al received words of support from their cousins as they passed:

"Good luck, Rosie, Albus," whispered Lily, before running off after her friends, her short ginger hair swinging behind her.  
"Yeah, as much as it pains me to say it, you'll do great, sis," Hugo assured Rose, before adding, "But Al will do better!" and then running away before she could retort. Rose rolled her eyes, but hadn't taken offence, as she knew Hugo was only joking.  
James was next. He put one arm on Rose's shoulder, and the other on Molly's, and leant past them to talk to his brother. "Good luck, Al, dearest brother of mine, you're gonna need it up against these lot!" he gestured to Tracey, Rose and Molly, who all laughed, "No, but seriously, you'll all do great, I'm right behind you," he smiled, let go of their shoulders, and sauntered off, whilst Molly melted.  
"Good luck guys!" called Fred and Roxanne as they walked past, Roxanne giving Rose a cheerful wink.  
Tracey counted the cousins off on her fingers, "You're so lucky having so much family support in the school!" she told Rose and Al, who looked at each other and burst out laughing.  
"Family _pressure_, you mean, Tracey," Al corrected her through laughter.

Before anyone could reply, Rose felt a tugging on her arm. She turned to see a pair of 2nd years that she vaguely recognised stood next to each other. The girl had light brown hair, which reached her waist in thin strands, and hazel eyes. She was skinny, but there was something about her that said she was much stronger than she looked. The boy with her was the same height, although slightly stockier, but definitely not fat. Rose noticed that he had her hair and eyes, before remembering who they were: the twins from the carriage on the first day of term.

"Frank!" she exclaimed, "Alice!"  
"Hi," Alice mumbled, "We... erm, we just..." she trailed off, noticing that there were four fourth years staring at her.  
"What Alice is trying to say is that we came to say good luck to you, Rose,"  
"That's very kind of you! Thanks!" she told them, and then said: "How did you know my name?" as an afterthought.  
"You're Professor Weasley's daughter, a child of those who had a key part in the downfall of Voldemort- everyone knows you!" Frank exclaimed in surprise.  
"And our parents are friends," Alice added quietly,  
Rose smiled, "Well, thanks again, but you'd better run, I don't want to make you late,"  
"Yeah, ok. See you later, Rose," Frank said, before checking his watch and running out of the Great Hall, dragging his sister with him.

Rose turned back to her friends, to see them all looking at her in disbelief. "Please don't advertise the fact that you're friends with second years," Albus begged, "It does nothing for your, or our, street cred,"  
"They came over to wish me good luck, what am I supposed to do, ignore them?"

But Rose never got to find out what the appropriate way to treat 2nd years was, as her mum began to speak:

"Ok, so, 4th years, if you will be so kind as to follow me, we will head towards the First Task." There was a scramble to get up, and not be the last one there; as one of the rumours had said that there would be limited supplies to make your potion with and there would be nothing left for the last group to make a potion from.

"See you later!" Molly called, as she ran off to flirt with Nathan Williams.  
"There's my group!" exclaimed Tracey, who had got on with her team, despite her initial problem with not actually knowing them.  
"Hey, Louis!" called Al, and ran over to join his cousin, yelling, "GOOD LUCK, ROSIE!" over his shoulder.  
"Rose!" called a voice from behind her. She turned to see Scorpius jogging towards her.

He'd been embarrassed about the whole 'getting rejected' thing, and had barely spoken to her since the event, but had decided that he needed to man up and apologise. However, every time he'd worked up the courage to talk to Rose, she'd run off or suddenly realised that there was somewhere she had to be. This time he was determined that she wouldn't get away.

Rose was in two minds. It'd be rude to walk off and ignore him, not to mention bad for the team. But on the other hand, he was a foul-mouthed, loathsome, cockroach, who she'd been warned not to trust by several family members. However, her family may not be the best people to get advice about Scorpius from, as they were naturally prejudiced against the Malfoys. Maybe she _should_ listen to him...

She settled for a happy medium.

"What?" snapped Rose, whirling around to glare at Scorpius, who looked taken aback by her anger.  
"I thought we should talk," he told her once they were walking side-by-side.  
"About what?"  
"About... about how I... you know..." he trailed off. "You know what I mean. Anyway, I came to say sorry. I shouldn't have done that, I don't know what came over me. But I just wanted to say that I'd really like to forget about it, and stop being awkward, and then we can work together and maybe win?" his eyes were wide and hopeful, with a boyish smile on his face, all traces of arrogance gone. Rose liked this version of Malfoy. "I mean," he began to ramble, speaking hurriedly, "I don't just want to be friends just _so_ we can win, I'm not like that, I want to be friends with you because I like you, not _like_ like you, obviously that' d be weird, not _you're_ weird, I mean it'd be weird if I liked you, because... I dunno, it just would, but it'd be better for everyone, everyone in the group, I mean, if we got on, and-"  
Rose cut him off, "Shut up, Scorpius,"  
"Fine," he said, arrogance returning, "If you want to be like that, then we'll just struggle through the rest of the year and-"  
She laughed, "No, I meant stop rambling! We'll just forget about it, ok, you were shattered from all the revision Lucy was making us do, you weren't thinking straight,"  
Scorpius wished that was right, but he was just relieved to have been forgiven so quickly and easily, "Thanks, Rose,"  
She just shrugged.

The chattering 4th years came to a stop on the 7th floor corridor, staring at a door that Rose had never seen before, opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy.

"Behind this door you will find another corridor, lined with identical doors. There will be the names of the members of each group on the doors, so once you find your name, stand by it and wait for the rest of your group to join you. Do _not_ touch the door handle before I give you permission, or it will be an immediate trip to Madame Pomfrey for extreme burns..." she let that threat hang in the air for a moment, before exclaiming; "Begin!"

The door flew open, and the students rushed in to be greeted by, just as Hermione had told them, a long corridor parallel to the one they had just come off. Rose and Scorpius took a wild guess and headed right, reading the names on the doors as they ran past. Despite the fact that there would be no need to rush until the individual doors opened, the corridor was filled with students sprinting in both directions, crashing into each other, shouting, and general chaos.

Rose suddenly became aware of a voice shouting above the others; "Rose! Scorpius! Over here!"  
Grabbing hold of Scorpius' sleeve, she dragged him towards Thomas, whom they had just run passed without even noticing.  
"Sorry," Rose panted, "didn't... see you," she then noticed that she still had hold of Scorpius' arm, and let go of it hurriedly.  
Lucy appeared next to them, already talking, "Hello, Thomas!" was her greeting, completely blanking Rose and Scorpius, until she addressed them all with: "I hope you're all ready to win!"  
"Erm... yeah," was the general reply from the rest of the group. Lucy didn't have time to tell them off for their lack of enthusiasm, because Hermione clapped her hands for silence.  
"Ok then, 4th years! I have only one thing to say: your aim is to reach the box in the room through the door. Good luck- you may _begin_!"

On the final word, every door that lined the corridor flew open, and the 4th years ran inside. Lucy was first, closely followed by Thomas, Rose behind him, and Scorpius bringing up the rear. As soon as Malfoy was inside, the door slammed shut, leaving the four in darkness.

"Are you all there?" asked Thomas' voice nervously.  
"Yes, but keep quiet a second," Rose replied, listening out for anything dangerous lurking out of sight. She could hear nothing except the breathing of the rest of her group, the beat of her heart, and the splashing of water. "Lumos," she whispered, and the others copied.

Suddenly the room was lit up, although it still held an eerie feeling of something mysterious hiding in the distance... The room was long, and thin; rectangular, in other words, and the group was stood at one of the shorter parallel sides. About 10 metres in front of them was a pond, in which a creature of some sort was splashing about, muttering to itself. It was difficult to identify exactly _what_ it was, but Rose stepped forward cautiously, becoming the others to follow her.  
"What _is_ that?" Scorpius whispered in disgust, as they got close enough to see the creature clearly. The only way to describe it was monkey-like, except covered in scales as oppose to fur. Its hands and feet were webbed, and it wore an expression of distaste upon its facial features as it waded back and forth through the shallow water, which only came up to its knee, despite the creature's height. Most peculiarly of all, however, was the depression upon its head, filled to the brim with water.

Something clicked in Rose's mind from the first morning back in school. Her Mum had told the 4th years a seemingly pointless piece of information about a certain creature, which had seemed completely irrelevant at the time, but now Rose realised that Hermione had put that random fact in her morning greeting for a reason, and was thankful that she had such as good memory. "It's a Kappa!" she exclaimed  
The creature turned to fix two murky brown eyes on her.  
"Oh, well done," it snarled, "but that doesn't change anything! You still have to get past me to find what you seek, but I bet you can't!" it burst out into cackles of hysteric laughter, swaying as if it were drunk.  
Rose beckoned the group closer and explained, "You see that depression full of water atop its head? We've got to spill it somehow, as it's the Kappa's source of strength. Without it, it'll faint, or die, and we can pass."  
"I'll do it," Scorpius announced, ignoring the surprised looks on everyone else's faces, "That... thing... the Kappa, it needs to be tricked into bending over, so the water spills. I can do that; it needs cunning and trickery- the traditional Slytherin qualities."

Ignoring everyone else's indignant reactions, and exclamations that they could just Stun the Kappa, Scorpius stepped forward and called to the creature: "Hey, you!"  
It turned to face him, baring its teeth, and growling, "I know you wish to pass, but you shan't!"  
"So, what can we do so you'll allow us to pass?"  
"Nothing! Ahahahaha!" the Kappa shrieked, whilst Scorpius rolled his eyes.  
"How about a duel?" Malfoy suggested, ignoring Rose who cried:  
"Scorpius, no!"  
The Kappa looked interested, "Maybe... but I can't fight on land, not against that wand of yours... you'll have to come to me..." An evil grin spread across the creatures face.  
"Malfoy, no!" called Lucy, "It's a trick!"  
Scorpius pretended not to hear, as he threw off his cloak and jumper, before rolling up his sleeves and trouser legs, and venturing into the icy water.

I'd just like to apologise in advance: I may be a while posting the next chapter, as we have guests staying, and I have to be social, which apparently doesn't include writing fanfics . Also, I have tests coming up at school, but I'll try and get the next part published ASAP . Anyway, thanks for reading, and for all the follows/favourites/reviews, it means so much to me! :D

And now you'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out how Scorpius' encounter with the Kappa turns out, but just be grateful it wasn't the bigger cliff-hanger that I originally intended ;)  
Thanks again,  
Lucy x 


	9. Chapter 9

So, I got a few people pretty angry with my little cliff-hanger at the end of my last chapter, but fear not, here is what happens next!

Scorpius winced as the freeing water touched his toes, and waded in up to his mid-calf, silently cursing the Kappa. He knew a little about the creatures, and one of these useful facts was that their skin was immune to curses fired from a wand. So why had the Kappa said that it 'couldn't find on land, not against that wand'? Because the creature was stronger in water, it was in its home territory.  
_But it's ok,_ he reassured himself, _I have a plan_.

Scorpius stood staring at the animal.  
"So, are you going to attack me or not?" he asked it,  
"Why, of course!" it cackled, "I just thought you might like to begin!" The Kappa ran at Scorpius, the water not even slowing it down.  
_Well, it is a water demon,_ Scorpius thought, before jumping swiftly out of the way at the last second, merely getting a scratch down his arm.  
The creature growled at him, "Stand and fight like a man!" it screeched, before charging at him again.  
This time Scorpius reversed to the very edge of the pool, before summoning the little courage he possessed, and literally taking the bull by the horns: he grabbed the Kappa under the arms, which were flailing and scraping at his face, and threw it back into the water.  
This achieved nothing except to make the creature angry, and to leave Scorpius' face bleeding. The Kappa simply stood up, the depression on its head still full, and glared at him.  
"A good effort," it growled, "but not good enough! I feed off the blood of humans who stray across my path, and you shall be my next victim!"  
"Good luck with that one, you ugly monkey!" Scorpius laughed, wiping the blood from his cheek, whilst Rose covered her eyes with her hands, not wanting to see what was about to happen to him.  
The Kappa growled louder than ever, bared its teeth, and ran at Scorpius for the third time. Malfoy took one further step backwards so he was now out of the water. When the creature leaped, Scorpius ducked, rolled to the side, and stood up before it had even landed.  
Once the Kappa realised it had been tricked into being led out of its comfort zone, its reaction wasn't pleasant. It snarled, and crawled towards Scorpius on all fours, still with its head upright, thus retaining the water in its head, its teeth bared and claws out.  
"And _still_ you refuse to fight!" it sneered,  
"I don't pretend to be brave, I know that I'm a Slytherin, not a Gryffindor, and my speciality is trickery and cunning, as you have noticed,"  
"Oh, well done, you've got me out of the water!" the Kappa mocked, "It's true that I'm weaker here, but I can simply walk back in to my territory, like this,"  
The creature started as if to return back to the water, before Scorpius said, "But you won't,"  
It froze. "And why wouldn't I?"  
"Because I refuse to fight you in the water, and if you don't fight me, you can't win, and you won't get to feast on my blood. Just picture that: a lovely juicy teenager to drink the blood of, all going to waste if you take a step closer to that pool. You'll go hungry..."  
The Kappa considered this, "I could eat one of your friends,"  
"They refuse to fight in the water too, _don't they?_" Scorpius turned to glare at the rest of his team, his eyes clearly telling them to go with it.  
"Absolutely," Rose told the Kappa, "none of us will fight you in the water, you have far too much of an advantage," Lucy and Thomas nodded in agreement.  
"Very well..." it growled, "But I cannot fight you here, I weaken every second I am out of the water, so here _you_ have the advantage!"  
Scorpius appeared to consider this, "well, if we can't fight in water, and we can't fight on land, we simply can't fight!"  
"Disappointing," the Kappa agreed, "I was looking forward to devouring the lot of you,"  
"Well, if you don't mind, we'll pass then," Rose told it, moving as if to walk round the pool, before feeling a set of sharp claws on her wrist. She gasped and jumped back in pain- the creature had managed to draw blood.  
"If I cannot have what I wish, neither shall you," it growled, glaring up at Rose and letting go of her wrist.  
"Ok, how about a truce?" Scorpius suggested, "We'll shake hands, and then sit down and wait for a Professor to let us out. You won't drink our blood, and we won't pass. Deal?"  
"Scorpius, no! We'll lose the task!" Rose exclaimed.  
"But if we fight the Kappa, we might lose our lives,"  
"You _will_ lose your lives," the creature corrected,  
"See?" Scorpius pointed out,  
"No! I will not let you, you coward!" Rose shrieked, "All our hard work over the past month, to be beaten by _this_-"  
Scorpius ignored her, as he walked over to the Kappa, blocking out her outraged shrieks, "Truce?" he asked the Kappa, using the same tone of voice that he'd used with Rose when he'd helped her up on September 1st. This made her more enraged than ever, and went to hurl herself at him, but she felt a pair of hand holding her arms behind her back.  
"Thomas?!" She cried in outrage, "What are you doing? We'll lose and-"  
"You think I don't know that?" he asked, "But Scorpius is group leader, it's his decision,"  
Rose shrieked about what a terrible leader he'd been, but no matter how much she struggled, Thomas refused to let go of her wrists.

Scorpius held his hand out, and the Kappa looked at it analytically, before deciding that Scorpius was serious, and lifting his own arm. The creature didn't have time to so much as offer his hand, before Scorpius had swung his arm back and thrown a punch in into its stomach.  
The Kappa clutched the point where Scorpius' fist had made contact, and, doubling over in pain, the water drained out of the depression on its head. It swayed for a moment in confusion, before collapsing onto the floor, completely unconscious, or worse.

Thomas released Rose, who flung herself at Malfoy. "You bastard!" she shrieked as she hugged him, "You _absolute_ arse! I thought you were serious!"  
"I gathered, from the way you were screeching a minute ago," he laughed, awkwardly returning the hug by patting her on the back.  
"But that was genius- well done!" she congratulated him, stepping back from their embrace, before noticing the damage that had actually been done to Scorpius; "You're bleeding!" she exclaimed.  
"What?" he asked, before looking at his arm, "Oh, yeah, I know, but it's only a bit," he assured her, pulling his robe back on to cover up the cut.  
"No, not on your arm, although that's pretty bad too, I meant here," she gestured to his face, but Scorpius just looked confused. Looking slightly apprehensive, she reached up, and ran her finger down his cheek, next to the cut that reached from the corner of his eye to his mouth.

Scorpius' skin tingled where she had touched him, and hated to admit that he was disappointed when she moved her hand away. Rose looked at him expectantly, as if waiting for him to say something, but he couldn't gather his thoughts. He could feel himself blushing too, which didn't help matters. "Oh, right... erm, thanks?" he mumbled, before attempting to wipe the blood off his face.

"C'mon, you two, we haven't done yet," Lucy gestured to the other side of the pool, where a table filled with bottles was set out.  
Rose sighed, "Well, let's get on with it then,"

As the four skirted the edges of the Kappa's pond, Rose couldn't help doing a mental checklist. The Challenge was supposed to test the qualities of each House, and so far the Gryffindor had identified the Kappa, as traditionally the Lions excelled at DADA. Then the Slytherin had used trickery and cunning against it, as were the Snake's typical qualities. And the Hufflepuff, who valued team-work, had kept the team together by preventing Rose stopping Scorpius making the decisions that were _his _to make, as group leader. All that was left was for Lucy to do something intelligent, and then surely they'd score well.  
Once the team had passed the pond, they saw a door behind the table. In between the two, however, was a pillar, on the top of which a box was resting. The team ran up to the box, to see a poem engraved on the top:

_To complete the task you need a key,  
and one is conveniently inside of me!  
However, a potion must be made,  
If you are to finish the task unscathed.  
Do not dally, for there is no time to waste,  
So create that potion, then make haste!_

"That is a _terrible_ poem," Thomas announced,  
"Well, it will be if my Mum wrote it," Rose confessed, slightly embarrassed. "Anyway, it basically means that we need to create a potion to open the box, and reach the key that'll get us out of here. Lucy, any ideas?"  
Lucy pondered for a minute, wandering around to examine the different ingredients they had on offer. Eventually she spoke, "There are several options," she began, "I could create a potion that'd burn away the box, but it may be protected against that, or I could explode it, but-" she was cut off by Rose:  
"Just skip to the potion we're actually going to use, Lucy," she said, in a bored voice.  
Lucy looked at her cousin huffily, before continuing: "The Strength Potion. If I can make it up, one of us may take it, and merely break the box in half. It's a fairly simple potion anyway." _A smart idea from the Ravenclaw- check,_ Rose thought.  
"That's actually a pretty good idea, Lucy," Scorpius said, almost kindly, "I'm excellent at those anyway, so we should have no problems,"  
Lucy clearly had no intention of letting Scorpius take all the credit, so she set to work straight away crushing a bone, whilst Scorpius began to chop up a plant of some sort. Rose knew enough about potions to remember that this one needed a snake fang, and began to crush one as soon as she found it. Thomas was allocated a task by Lucy, and soon the four of them were hard at work.

Within a few minutes, the ingredients were all in a cauldron, bubbling, and heading towards a yellow colour.  
"Excellent!" Lucy decided, stirring the concoction, "Now the question is- who takes it?"  
"What if it doesn't work?" Scorpius asked, ever the coward, "I don't want it to have the reverse effect, and have to be carried away or something,"  
"Well, you don't have to take that risk then," Lucy told him scornfully.  
"I'll do it," Rose volunteered. After all, Gryffindors were supposed to be risk-takers, and she definitely was. She tipped the potion into a vial, pointed her wand at it, and murmured a cooling spell, and poured it down her throat, before the others had a chance to object.

At first nothing happened.  
Then she felt a strange sensation in her throat, which spread through her veins until her whole body was tingling with energy.  
"How do you feel?" Lucy asked cautiously,  
"Strange..." Rose replied dreamily,  
"We should've tested it on that Kappa first- I knew something would go wrong!" Scorpius announced.  
That got Rose's attention, "What makes you think something's wrong?" she asked sharply,  
"There's nothing wrong, Rose," Thomas assured her, "besides, Scorpius, that Kappa's most likely dead, and even if it wasn't, it's be wrong to test something on a creature capable of human pain and emotion, if we weren't willing to test it on ourselves," he pointed out.  
"Grab a SPEW badge," Scorpius muttered under his breath, before addressing Rose, "I only thought something was wrong because you went all dreamy, but you appear to be back now, Rose,"_  
_"Yes, I'm fine, so, if you'll allow me..." she walked over to the box, her legs heavier since taking the potion. Clearly muscle came with strength. Rose picked up the box with one hand, and immediately cracks appeared as she wasn't used to this new power. She held the box with both hands, and snapped it in half, the way one might break a thin piece of wood.

A key clattered to the floor.

It was nothing special, just rusty iron, but the only key available, so Rose bent down to pick it up.  
"Stop!" Lucy cried, "You'll bend or break it whilst you're under the effects of the potion, let me get it,"  
"Great," Rose grumbled, standing up, "How long until it wears off?"  
"Shouldn't be too long, maybe another 10 minutes? Just don't hug anyone, otherwise you'll squash them,"  
"Noted," Rose replied, as Lucy stepped towards the door.  
"Ready, everyone?" the Ravenclaw asked.  
"Just do it, Lucy," Rose and Scorpius said, simultaneously, before laughing. Even Lucy grinned at them. She placed the key in the lock, turned it, and the door swung open.

Hope you all liked it- I'll post the next chapter as soon as it's written  
Thanks for continuing to read!  
Feel free to favourite/follow, and reviews are even better ;)

Thanks again!  
Lucy x 


	10. Chapter 10

**I realised that I probably should write a disclaimer, in case I get sued or whatever, so here it is:  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, or anything do with it! (Unless you count my invented characters in this fic, eg: Molly, Katie, Nathan, Graham, Thomas, Tracey, Alex and Emily.) But anyway; please don't hurt me...  
Also, Madame Pomfrey features in this chapter, even though I am well aware that she would have retired by this time.  
Anyway, on with Rose and Scorpius' story!**

As the door swung open, the team were greeted by a bright light. Actually, Rose thought, blinking as her eyes adjusted, it wasn't that bright. They'd just been in the semi-darkness too long. They stepped away from the door into a corridor identical to the one on the other side of the task, to be greeted by some older students and ushered to a seat. Rose released a breath that she didn't know she'd been holding when she realised that they'd finished.

"How did we do?" Rose asked the girl who was checking them for any major injuries.  
"Sorry, I don't know," she smiled apologetically, "I didn't get to view the tasks, so I've no idea what happened in there. But seeing as none of you are seriously damaged-" Scorpius coughed loudly, clearly thinking that the gash on his cheek _was_ serious, but the older girl ignored him, "-I can only assume that you've done better than those lot," she gestured along the corridor, where Rose recognised other 4th years, who had clearly come off worst with the Kappa.  
Most were ok, with only scratches, but a handful were bleeding heavily, and some had clearly not made the World's Best Potion, if the extra limbs they were sprouting were anything to go by.  
"Will they be ok?" Thomas asked anxiously  
"Professor Weasley wouldn't have allowed this to go ahead if any students were going to be seriously hurt," the older girl assured him. The group nodded, convinced, and accepted the mugs of foaming Butterbeer that were brought, until a door burst open and a panting Al fell out of it, followed by Flint carrying an unconscious Emily, the Hufflepuff girl Albus had mentioned before, with Louis bringing up the rear.

"Al!" shrieked Rose, breaking the mug she had just been passed; partly because of the Strength Potion she was still under, and partly with shock, "Are you ok? What's happened?" She asked as she ran over. Another older student tried to make her sit down, but she took no notice and barged past him, over to the rest of Al's group who were all looking slightly worse for wear.  
"Out of the way!" A voice commanded, and Rose moved immediately. Madame Pomfrey, the miracle worker. Everything would be ok. The nurse picked up Emily, who had gone a strange colour- shifting from purple to blue to green to yellow to orange to red and back again- and carried her to a hospital bed set out in the corridor. Alex Flint rushed over to Emily, and grabbed hold of her hand, as Madame Pomfrey lay her down on the bed, and began to mumble healing spells, sending students to collect pre-made potions. Al and Louis stood back with Rose's group, explaining what had happened.

"It was my fault," they both said simultaneously, before looking at each other and grinning slightly. Al continued: "Emily and I were fighting off that... that _creature_, whilst Louis and Flint attempted to make up a potion. But it was too quick and violent, so we didn't manage to give them enough time, and it seemed to be immune to all the curses we threw at it."  
"It was a Kappa," Rose explained, "Their skin is immune to jinxes and hexes from a wand,"  
"Oh, tell us that now, why don't you!" Albus exclaimed angrily, but Rose didn't retort, because she knew he was just worried for Emily.  
"Then what happened?" Lucy asked, as gently as she knew how.  
"Well, like Al said, Flint and I were trying to make a potion that would open that stupid box, and the first idea I had was one that would give a person the power to melt it. But we must have done something wrong, or the potion didn't brew for long enough... I don't know, but neither Flint nor I would have let anyone take it if we even suspected it wasn't safe..." Louis trailed off,  
"Then how did Emily get it?" Thomas snapped. Clearly she was one of his friends.  
"It was when the Kappat, or whatever you called it, got too much for us. It threw itself at Emily, but she dived out of the way, grabbed the potion, and drank it before anyone could stop her."  
"Then there was nothing any of you could do!" Rose exclaimed, "So stop saying that it's your fault!"  
"But why did she take it?" Thomas asked.  
"Because it was the next step to finishing, which was the only way to get out, I suppose. Emily took it for _us._" Louis said sadly.  
"You're making it sound like she's dead!" Rose exclaimed, "Mum wouldn't have put anything on that table that could cause any student serious harm, so don't worry, Emily'll be fine!"

Rose's words didn't reassure the others; instead they thought that she was being dismissive of what had happened. Thomas and Albus both opened their mouths to retort, but their words were lost in the commotion of another door being opened and Molly's team flying out.  
"We did it!" she shrieked, running over to Rose and hugging her, "We finished!"  
"I gathered," Rose laughed, releasing Molly, (realising that the Strength Potion must have worn off, as Molly had not been crushed to death) and nodding a 'well done' to the rest of her best friend's team, as she wasn't really on speaking terms with them. Al, Louis, Lucy and Graham went to check on Emily, whose colour seemed to be improving slightly, whilst Scorpius and Katie went off to discuss the first task in the corner. Rose felt a slight clenching in her stomach at this, which she pretended wasn't there.  
"Nathan was _amazing_, weren't you?" Molly told Rose, throwing one arm around his shoulders in a friendly manner.  
Nathan _was_ good-looking, Rose admitted. He had long-ish caramel-coloured hair, which fell into his eyes, and a gentle face, with a cheeky glint in his eyes that even Rose, who had minimal interest in boys, was quite attractive. He grinned sheepishly at Rose under his fringe, through light brown eyes. "I didn't do much, to be honest," he admitted modestly.  
"Excuse me, _you_ were the one who decided which potion to make, and made it!"  
"Graham helped me, though, and you identified the Kappa," he insisted, grinning despite himself, thus showing off a perfect set of white teeth.  
"You recognised the Kappa, Molly?!" Rose exclaimed, "I didn't think you were listening to Mum that morning! Or _any_ morning, to be honest-"  
"What are you talking about, Rose? I recognised that scaly bastard from our DADA books. I may not be as studious as you or Nathan, but I do know my Kappas from my Red Caps."  
"Oh, right," Rose felt a bit stupid, if not surprised that Molly had actually _payed attention_ in a lesson.  
The three stood there for a moment in awkward silence, before Molly asked, "What's going on over there?" gesturing to where Emily was recovering. Rose explained what had happened to Al's group in the task, and Molly gasped. "Why didn't you tell me straight away?" she shrieked.  
"Because you didn't give me time to breathe, and I was just happy that you were ok. Besides, do you even know her?"  
"No, but that's not the point! Al must be so upset! And she could be seriously ill! How could you be so inconsiderate to put me, when I'm clearly fine, in front of Emily, who might be _dying?_" Molly was always over dramatic, but now may not be the best time to point it out, Rose thought as Molly barged past her, over to the others, who were all crowded around Emily's bed.  
"Don't worry," Rose told Nathan, "she's gets like that when she'd stressed,"  
"Yeah, I noticed," he grinned, "back in there, she was pretty fierce. That Kappa was murderous, but as soon as it tried to attack Graham, she flung herself at it, pinning its arms behind its back. She wouldn't let it harm a hair on any of our heads."  
Rose smiled, "She's a very loyal, brave friend, despite that ditsy act she puts on."  
"So are you two close?" Nathan asked Rose, as he went to sit on the nearest sofa, gesturing for her to come with him. She obliged, telling him that she and Molly were best friends, as she sat down. Nathan sat next to her, slightly closer than normal, or was that Rose's imagination?  
"Will you two be ok?" he asked. Seeing Rose's confused expression, he continued, "I mean, she seemed quite annoyed with you then - and apparently girls have a lot of arguments - so I was just wondering if you'll still be friends,"  
Rose shrugged, "It's true that in general girls argue a lot, but I hate that, so I try to avoid picking arguments over nothing. And Molly and I are such great friends, that it'll take more than a minor disagreement to make us fall out. Why?"  
"I don't know, I was just curious..." Nathan trailed off and looked away from Rose, staring straight ahead.  
Sensing that the silence was getting awkward, Rose said, "Well, I'd better go and check on Emily and the others. Molly was right when she said that ignoring her was inconsiderate of me." She went to stand up, but Nathan was already on his feet, giving her his hand to help her up. It was such an old-fashioned, gentlemanly gesture which Rose had read about so often in her Victorian novels, and she couldn't help but smile at Nathan and accept his hand. He smiled back, a faint blush colouring his cheeks.  
"It's been nice talking to you, Rose," he said, "Maybe... maybe we could do it again sometime?" he asked in a rush.  
Rose would've nodded, said goodbye, gone to join her friends, and thought nothing more of it, but something clicked in her mind. Molly saying that boys had been looking at her across the Great Hall. Nathan sitting practically on top of her, offering his hand to help her up. Him blushing when she accepted it. And now he was asking to '_do it again sometime'_... Was it possible that he was _asking her out?  
_Never one to beat around the bush, Rose asked him that very question: "Are you asking me out, Nathan?"  
He blushed more than ever, running his hand through his hair out of nerves, before saying, "Well... yeah..."  
She might've been one of the smartest in her year, but she was surprisingly slow when it came to human behaviour. She'd nearly missed an opportunity to go on her first date.  
She grinned, "I don't see why n-" suddenly she thought of Molly, drooling into her cornflakes about Nathan's dreamy good looks. Did Molly really like Nathan, or was it James she preferred? Did she care about _either?_ Maybe they were both just distractions, someone to flirt with to make her life seem more interesting. Rose wished for the first that she and Molly discussed boys more often. She made a on-the-spot decision.  
"I mean, that sounds fun," she smiled,  
"Excellent!" he laughed, relief plain on his face. "The first Hogsmeade weekend is a week on Saturday. How about I meet you outside your Common Room at 10am on Saturday then? Oh, wait, I'm allowed _inside_ other Houses Common Rooms whilst the Challenge is on, aren't I? I could-"  
"Well, you could, but, I'll be honest. Us Gryffindors prefer to keep our Common Room to ourselves, so you may be subject to several Weasley's Wizard Wheezes jokes whilst in there, especially without a Gryffindor to protect you," she laughed at his scared expression. "It's ok, I'll meet you outside at 10," she patted his arm, before running off to talk to Al.

***

The next day in the results of the tasks were up in the Common Room:  
"_First?_" Rose exclaimed in disbelief, "but we weren't even that good!"  
"No, you probably weren't, although at least none of your group got fatally ill from a potion created by the others," Albus pointed out miserably. His team had been disqualified for not managing to finish, along with several other groups who had also been rescued. Apparently after Emily had taken the potion, she'd collapsed, and the door had flown open. Clearly whoever had been monitoring the task had been instructed to open the door as soon as it appeared that any member of the team was in danger. There were several 4th years that had spent the night in the hospital wing, so Rose knew that her Mum wouldn't be in a good mood at breakfast. Injured students were Hermione's least favourite thing, after students who weren't prepared. The ones in the hospital wing were both.  
"Well, I'm quite pleased with 3rd," Molly announced, "although I can't believe you beat us, Rose! With me and Nathan in the group, we _so_ should have won!"  
Rose just laughed. She hadn't told Molly that Nathan had asked her to go out with him yet, for fear of her reaction.  
"Anyway, breakfast anyone?" Rose asked. The others nodded in agreement, and the three of them headed towards the door of the Common Room. However, before they could leave, Rose felt someone grab her arm.  
"Rose," a voice said, "could I talk to you for a second?" it was James. He looked confused and distressed, his usual cool-as-a-cucumber outlook gone.  
"Erm, yeah, sure..." Rose replied, surprised. She'd never seen her cousin like this before. She gestured for the others to go on without her, and followed James across the room.  
He ran his hands through his hair in agitation. "Rose I know this is really weird, and not the sort of thing we normally discuss, but I need to talk to you about... about girls,"  
He was right. This was weird. "What?" Rose asked bluntly, sure she'd misheard.  
"We need to talk about girls. Don't make me say it again."  
"Erm... ok then. Which girls in particular?" Rose asked, still confused, as they headed to the opposite side of the Common Room.  
"Your friend, Molly," James replied, without hesitation, although his staring at the floor showed his embarrassment.  
"Ah," Rose said. James must have noticed Molly flirting. It was kind of hard to miss. "Well?" she prompted.  
"I was wondering if you could ask her about... about me, and whether she has any... you know... _feelings_ for me," James was blushing furiously, and repeatedly running his hand through his hair, so it was stuck straight up. "Because, I kinda think that... that I might like her-"  
_What?! _Rose thought, _James likes Molly back? This could sort everything out! She and he can get together, and then I can go on this date with Nathan, without fear of Molly falling out with me!  
"_James Potter, you're fantastic!" she declared, much to her cousin's surprise.  
"What? Why?"  
"Because Molly has been going on and on about how dreamy you are since first year, begging me to ask you about her, and basically everything you said to me just now. Of course she likes you back, go ask her out, that's my advice!"  
"Really?" James asked, his face full of hope and surprise, looking very young without his cool-and-confident pretence temporarily abandoned.  
"Yes, really," Rose told him," So, if you don't mind, I have breakfast to eat, and I suppose you do too,"  
"Of course," he grinned, "Oh, but before you go, Quidditch practise is tomorrow night. Be there."  
"You mean I made the team?" Rose squealed.  
"Yep. Although I'm gonna be accused of favouritism. Most of the Gryffindor team are my relatives; You, Al, Fred and Roxanne, Molly-"  
"Molly's not your relative."  
"No, but she is a good friend. A very good friend..."  
And with that, James drifted off to breakfast, a permanent smile etched upon his face.

**Sorry I've not updated for ages, but I won't bore you with excuses, I just hope you enjoyed it. ****  
I got a request for a love triangle, and there's going to be a freaking love PENTAGON! So, yeah, be prepared for people to get their hearts broken, and Scorpius is likely to be the first, considering that Rose has just been asked out...  
Ooh!  
Anyway, thanks for continuing to read and review, it means so much! And all your favourites and follows are fantastic! I feel **_**talented! **_**Yay!  
If you have any suggestions for future chapters, please feel free to tell me in a PM or review ******

Lucy x


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